Thursday, November 4th, 2021
Clear victory and sent off
Bayer’s ceremony ends in a fight
Bayer Leverkusen have had bitter weeks behind them, starting with a bad slap against FC Bayern Munich. It follows the embarrassing end in the DFB Cup. The Werkself have now taken the first step towards turning around internationally. In the end it becomes clear.
The Bayer fans celebrated Moussa Diaby, and the best Leverkusen man made the wave on his own. Led by the celebrated double goal scorer, Bayer Leverkusen took a step out of the sporting crisis with a football festival and is well on its way to the second round of the Europa League. The team of coach Gerardo Seoane defeated Betis Sevilla 4-0 (1-0). Goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky praised: “We really wanted to win today and we fought all the more for it. It was a great team performance.”
The outstanding Diaby scored the decisive goals for the Rhinelander in the 42nd and 52nd minutes in front of 15,208 spectators in the Leverkusen stadium. The other goals were scored by Florian Wirtz (86th) and Nadiem Amiri (90th) after Diaby preparatory work, before Nabil Fekir and Kerem Demirbay saw red in stoppage time. “That was a good end,” said coach Gerardo Seoane of his celebrated double goalscorer. “That is part of the development process,” said the coach, commenting on the problems in the previous games. Opponent Betis is second with seven points.
After five competitive games without a win, Bayer 04 improved significantly despite serious injury concerns and earned the success with self-sacrificing commitment and beautiful plays. Leverkusen played energetically from the start and pulled forward. The Werkself quickly bridged midfield and tried again and again to stage Diaby, Amine Adli and Wirtz.
Even if the first deals weren’t really dangerous, the hosts were heading in the right direction right away. Bayer 04, which had to do without six potential regular players, controlled the game and became more and more determined. First the former Dortmund defender Marc Bartra blocked a shot from Adli just in front of the line, then Kerem Demirbay moved from a promising position. In the 24th minute, the Bayer fans cheered – but only briefly. The nicely combined goal by Jeremie Frimpong was rightly denied due to an offside position.
Wild scenes at the end
It took the Spanish guests more than half an hour before they radiated a real goal danger for the first time. Bayer goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky prevented the deficit after a shot by Nabil Fekir. When there were already many signs of a 0-0 break, Diaby took the lead in Leverkusen. The fast offensive man completed a counterattack with a direct acceptance that was worth seeing.
“We play very variable,” said Leverkusen’s sporting director Simon Rolfes at halftime on the RTL + streaming service and was rightly satisfied with the Werkself’s performance. Shortly after the break, he had another reason to be happy: With a deflected shot, Diaby increased it to 2-0. Seville created the game a little more evenly, but had no luck with the deals. More than a crossbar free kick from Fekir did not jump out for Betis. Instead, the Spaniards received more hits shortly before the final whistle from Wirtz and Amiri. Then it got hectic again in Leverkusen, after scuffles and pack formation there were two relegations.