Spectacular away win

Match summary

VfB began at a furious pace and took the lead in the 14th minute through Ermedin Demirovic, who was making his 100th competitive appearance for the club.

Leweling strikes, Schick pulls one back

Sebastian Hoeneß’ side remained on the front foot and doubled their lead via Jamie Leweling in the 22^nd minute following a corner. However, Patrik Schick reduced the deficit a short while later to get the home side back into the game (29’).

Woodwork at both ends

Leverkusen nearly equalised just after the half-hour mark when Ibrahim Maza smashed an effort off the crossbar from 13 metres. Leweling also hit the bar at the other end of the pitch on the stroke of half-time following a swift counter (44’).

El Khannouss and Demirovic on target

The entertainment continued into the second half as Bilal El Khannouss made it 3-1 in the 51st minute with a strike from the edge of the box, before Dennis Seimen produced a fine save to keep out Afonso Moreira. Demirovic grabbed his second of the game after a superb threaded pass from Deniz Undav to put VfB 4-1 in front (65’).

Maza strikes late

Ibrahim Maza scored for the home side to make it 4-2 with just 11 minutes remaining, but Hoeneß’ charges defended well in the closing stages to see the result to the final whistle and pick up three important points.

Goals

14th minute – 0-1: Mark Flekken manages to save a shot from El Khannouss but is powerless to keep out Demirovic’s follow-up from 11 metres out.

22nd minute – 0-2: Following a corner, Flekken blocks Grischa Prömel’s close-range volley but the rebound falls kindly to Leweling, who bundles over the line from close range.

29th minute - 1-2: Schick meets a corner on the edge of the six-yard box and heads in for the hosts.

51st minute – 1-3: El Khannouss drills a low effort into the corner from 17 metres out.

65th minute – 1-4: Undav’s brilliant pass into the box leaves Demirovic with a simple tap-in.

79th minute – 2-4: Maza meets a cross from the left and his close-range header leaves Seimen no chance.

Reaction:

Head coach Sebastian Hoeneß: “That’s exactly how I wanted us to perform today. We made our intentions clear right from the start, battled our way into the game through our physicality and ultimately won it through courage and conviction. Huge credit to my team, who gave everything today and supported each other throughout.”

Two-goal hero Ermedin Demirovic: “A lot of frustration had built up recently because we know how hard we work week in, week out, but we haven’t always shown it on the pitch. That’s why we wanted to get back to what made us successful in the first place and bring plenty of energy onto the pitch. We had set ourselves some big goals and showed what kind of character we have. We were really strong in the challenges throughout the entire game.”