Kai Havertz, of course, who else? The young star leads Bayer with his goal to victory in Freiburg and back to a Champions League spot. For Havertz it is the fifth goal since the Bundesliga started again.
Freiburg (dpa) - Thanks to another record of Kai Havertz, Bayer 04 Leverkusen has found its way back to success in the race for the Champions League places.
With his fifth goal since the restart of the Bundesliga, the national player ensured the Werkself's tedious 1-0 (0-0) win at SC Freiburg in the 54th minute. Havertz was the first player under the age of 21 to hit 35 Bundesliga goals.
At the start of the 29th matchday, Leverkusen initially moved up to third place in the table. Coach Christian Streich's Freiburg, however, remained victorious in the fourth game after the Corona restart and remain in the upper midfield of the league.
The highly talented Bayer offensive was extremely difficult to find a gap against the disciplined defending Freiburg. Leverkusen's coach Peter Bosz had changed his starting line-up from four to four against Wolfsburg. But even 20-year-old Havertz or 17-year-old Florian Wirtz, who had just moved into the first formation, found it difficult to get through.
Freiburg defended as intensely as coach Christian Streich acted on the sidelines. Bayer dominated the game and had almost 80 percent of the ball in the first round alone, but the tireless prank prompted his players to resist permanently. While Bosz watched the game quietly most of the time and rarely made comments, Streich conducted almost every move of his team.
Shortly before the break, the 54-year-old's commitment was almost rewarded. Freiburg's Lucas Höler was sent out of nowhere - free in front of Bayer goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky, the striker didn't even get the ball on goal, but pushed it past the right post.
They only showed which individual class the guests had in the second round. Less than ten minutes after the restart, Leon Bailey was served in the sixteen by Havertz from Freiburg. The Jamaican claimed the ball in a confined space, passed it on again to Havertz - and the SC keeper Alexander Schwolow tunneled from the most acute angle. Shortly thereafter, Havertz had to leave the field slightly chipped.
Streich, on the other hand, remained in top form on the sidelines. Whipped by their coach, the team also pushed forward, but Leverkusen also did well. Bosz had for the first time since March 1, international Jonathan Tah in a Bundesliga game in the starting line-up, the central defender showed a solid performance. Shortly before the end, Nils Petersen still had the chance to equalize, but Hradecky was on hand (88th).
