Perhaps unsurprisingly, the opening stages between two sides separated by just one point at kick-off were evenly fought. The visitors attempted to direct play into the wide areas through Jeremie Frimpong and Moussa Diaby, but Die Werkself’s inability to clear their lines played a major role in allowing Bremen the opening goal.
Exequiel Palacios’ loose touch allowed the River Islanders to continue their attack, and the killer combination of Niclas Fullkrug and Marvin Ducksch were in sync once more, allowing the latter to smash the ball into the roof of the net.
Despite finding themselves on the wrong end of the scoreline against the pre-match underdogs, Xabi Alonso’s side still had residual confidence from their 2-0 midweek UEFA Europa League win over Ferencvaros, and it took them just a few minutes to level proceedings.
A cross from Frimpong found its way to the far post, where an arriving Mitchel Bakker was able to slam a sweetly-struck volley into the near top-corner, giving the visitors a massive boost in the lead up to the interval.
After the break, Leverkusen carried all of their momentum into the second period, and put themselves ahead in surreal circumstances.
Frimpong’s shot initially looked like it would scarcely trouble Jiri Pavlenka, but it deflected cruelly off Niklas Stark and rolled into the net past the wrong-footed goalkeeper.
Having now completely relinquished their early lead, the home side dug deep, and Fullkrug could have plundered a leveller when he found enough space for a near-post drive, but Lukas Hradecky was equal to it with an excellent save.
Xabi Alonso instructed his team to calm the game down, and the Bremen attack soon fizzled out, before Leverkusen found a third on the counter. Substitute Amine Adli’s cross was deflected conveniently into the path of Adam Hlozek and the Czech international expertly directed his header well out of reach of his compatriot in the Bremen goal.
That goal proved to be vital, as Die Grun-Weissen were awarded a penalty after the ball was adjudged to have struck a Leverkusen hand in the area, and Bundesliga top scorer Fullkrug stepped up to net his 15th of the season.
Werder Bremen may consider themselves unfortunate to end up the losing side given the overall balance of play, but they are now winless against today’s opponents in six head-to-head matches and have lost in six of their nine outings since the Bundesliga restart.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jeremie Frimpong (Bayer Leverkusen)
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