Despite one of the weakest performances of the season, Bayer Leverkusen has taken the next step towards the championship title in the Bundesliga. In the 2:1 (1:1) on Friday evening (February 23, 2024) against 1. FSV Mainz 05, Bayer needed a lot of luck and a slapstick performance from the visiting goalkeeper.
In addition to the victory, the Werkself also celebrated a record: it was the 33rd game in a row without defeat, meaning the leaders improved Bayern’s record (32 from 2019 to 2020).
“We have to be honest with ourselves today that we didn’t play a good game,” said winning goal scorer Robert Andrich. “But in the end we’re not complaining about the three points. Overall, we were too impatient and not precise enough.” His goal was “of course preceded by a goalkeeping error,” but “I’m glad the ball rolled in.”
Leverkusen’s Xhaka scores for the first time – and mimics the injured one
It was a game without any start-up phase. After just two minutes, a Grimaldo cross deflected by Silvan Widmer landed at Granit Xhaka, who fired a mixture of firecracker and arc lamp from the left corner of the penalty area. Behind the completely surprised Mainz goalkeeper Robin Zentner, the ball sank into the far corner – it was Leitwolf Xhaka’s first goal ever in a Leverkusen jersey.
The Swiss’s cheering choreo also caused a brief moment of shock in his own medical department: he grabbed his back thigh and limped theatrically, so that there was immediately a commotion on the Bayer sidelines. But then Xhaka laughed and coach Xabi Alonso reassured the physios – it was just a joke.
“It’s been this way for weeks,” Xhaka explained to “DAZN” after the game: “Even in training, whenever I hit the goal, I act as if I have something on my thigh.” He wanted to celebrate his first Bundesliga goal since 2015 with a special gesture, “I’ve been waiting for this goal for so long.”
Torge Hidding, Sportschau, February 23, 2024 11:07 p.m
Mainz goalscorer trained in Leverkusen
The Mainz team didn’t seem shocked by the goal they conceded, and they immediately went forward again. The reward came in the 7th minute, and two former Leverkusen players were involved. Nadiem Amiri, who has just swapped the Bayer bench for the FSV regular place during the winter break, crossed from the halffield, Widmer headed it for Dominik Kohr, who made it 1-1 with a diving header.
The midfield clearer learned his heading technique in Leverkusen: Kohr comes from the Bayer youth team and played ten years under the Bayer Cross with two stops in Augsburg between 2009 and 2019.
Hofmann rejects Mainz gift
As a result, a rather one-sided game developed in favor of the hosts, but in the end they always approached it in a way that was far too complicated and playful. In the 40th minute, Jonas Hofmann should have taken the lead again when Sepp van den Bergh slipped after an unsuccessful back pass and Hofmann was completely free in front of Zentner. But the national player finished too hectically and out of place, so that the goalkeeper was able to iron out the mistake of the people in front of him.
Leverkusen were unlucky shortly before the half-time whistle when Jeremy Frimpong, who was free to go deep, was clearly fouled by Philipp Mwene on the halfway line. Referee Timo Gerach overlooked the contact and allowed play to continue, which caused understandable anger among Frimpong and Xabi Alonso – Gerach showed both of them a yellow card.
Mainz comes out of the break stronger
During the half-time break, Mainz coach Bo Henriksen seemed to have found the right approach. The 05ers now played their attacks consistently until the end and should have taken the lead. Mwene headed a Karim Onisiwu cross just wide of the post (48′), two minutes later Jonathan Tah cleared the ball in desperate need from his own five-yard box. In the 55th minute, Edmond Tapsoba played a terrible pass across his own penalty area, but Jae-sung Lee lost his nerve and chased the ball over the crossbar.
Torge Hidding, Sportschau, February 23, 2024 11:19 p.m
Alonso realized that he had to take countermeasures and increased his presence in the penalty area by substituting Schick for the weak Hofmann. How dissatisfied Leverkusen were with themselves and the way the game was going was shown by Hofmann’s subsequent behavior: he angrily slammed his training jacket against the substitutes’ bench.
Bayer-Dusel – thanks to Zentner
It couldn’t be said that the frustration was released in a playful way. Leverkusen had a surprisingly difficult time and hardly managed to get any shots. Robert Andrich’s desperation shot from almost 30 meters in the 68th minute was almost telling. But the result fits perfectly into the current season, in which the league leaders have not only left Bayern behind, but have also stolen their luck gene.
Decisive in the game: Robin Zentner’s goalkeeping mistake ensured Leverkusen’s victory
Zentner wanted to intercept the Andrich return, which was placed exactly on the man, and was probably already thinking about the throw – so the ball slipped through his fingers in slapstick style and into his own goal.
Ngankam sieht Rot
This setback had an effect on Mainz. As a result, they appeared increasingly discouraged and understandably struggled with the undeserved result. A nasty kick from Jessic Ngankam on Xhaka’s Achilles tendon in the 80th minute was an expression of anger: Gerach initially gave a yellow, but was immediately changed after a very brief look at the video screen: red was the only correct penalty in this scene.
Bayer now against Cologne, Mainz against Gladbach
Ngankam will be missing from Mainz on Saturday in a week (March 2nd, 2024) at 3:30 p.m. (live ticker at sportschau.de and excerpts in the Sportschau from 6 p.m.) against Borussia Mönchengladbach. A day later, Leverkusen has the Rhine derby against 1. FC Köln ahead of them.
2024-02-23 23:16:01
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