The media circus surrounding Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso can’t have helped the title chasers as they were held to a draw by Borussia Monchengladbach last week.
The visitors set out to put that result right, and ought to have been ahead inside 20 minutes when Alejandro Grimaldo picked out Adam Hlozek inside the box, but the Czech international fired narrowly wide of the far post.
Die Werkself were far from their vintage best in the opening period, but rather unsurprisingly, it was Grimaldo who unlocked the Darmstadt defence to break the deadlock with his fifth assist in as many games.
The Spaniard’s pinpoint cross from the left found the arriving Nathan Tella at the back post to head home, vindicating his selection on the right over Jeremie Frimpong.
The visitors’ lead was a slender one at the break, but they at least restricted Darmstadt to very little at the other end. A second goal may not have been essential, but it was certainly welcomed by the travelling faithful when it arrived in spectacular fashion.
Slid in on the right by Florian Wirtz, Tella doubled his personal tally with a venomous strike that rocketed its way past the goalkeeper and in.
Darmstadt had nothing in response to falling two behind and came close to a more embarrassing scoreline when Wirtz curled his effort against the crossbar.
Regardless, Leverkusen registered an important victory that serves as a good warm-up for their showdown with Bayern next week in this enthralling title race. Darmstadt, meanwhile, remain rooted to the foot of the table and six points from safety after their winless run reached 13 matches.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Nathan Tella (Bayer Leverkusen)
