Leverkusen intervenes in the fight for the Champions League spots. By defeating their favorite opponents Augsburg, the Werkself are level with Gladbach. Diaby and Amiri shoot the deserved victory.
Leverkusen (dpa) - With the next win against favorite opponents FC Augsburg, Bayer Leverkusen has the Champions League spots in the Bundesliga again in view.
The fifth in the table remained undefeated three days after the 2-1 victory against FC Porto in the Europa League in the 18th Bundesliga game against Augsburg and celebrated a 2-0 (1-0) win this time. This brought the Rhinelander equal to Borussia Mönchengladbach in fourth place in the table, but the Gladbachers still have to play a catch-up game.
In front of 23,703 spectators in the BayArena, Moussa Diaby (25th) and Nadiem Amiri (59th) scored the goals for the fourth competitive home win in succession for the Leverkusen team.
The hosts had to give up Charles Aranguiz and Kevin Volland, who was injured at the ankle, for a short time. The Bayer striker may face a longer injury break. For this, coach Peter Bosz promoted Exequiel Palacios to the starting line-up for the first time in a Bundesliga game, and Diaby also returned to the starting line-up. International player Jonathan Tah strengthened the three-way defense chain.
The Bayer team quickly took control of the game and had the first good chance thanks to Nadiem Amiri's long-range shot (10th), but the most controversial FCA goalkeeper Tomas Koubek was able to direct the ball to the corner. The guests were compact in the defense converted into two positions, but only got a first chance on the offensive according to a standard: Florian Niederlechner hit with a header after a corner just next to the goal (18th).
On the other hand, Diaby, who was staged by Kai Havertz and scored the opening goal for Bayer with a left-foot shot from six meters into the right corner against the powerless FCA keeper, did better. It was the fourth goal of the season for the French, who was looking forward to fatherly joy and had returned from home at short notice. The 20-year-old caused the most danger to the hosts on the left side.
In addition to Diaby, Havertz was again an activity with the hosts, the international was involved in many good scenes. Wendell had good opportunities to score with a left-hand shot and Diaby also with a shot from the left. The decision was made after an hour by Amiri, who scored his first Bundesliga goal for Bayer with a low shot based on Sven Bender. Shortly afterwards Havertz was unlucky with a shot at the crossbar. In the end, the guests had little to oppose.
Squad Bayer Leverkusen
Squad FC Augsburg