10th matchday
Sloppy and brilliant: Leverkusen remains at the top
Florian Wirtz (l) gave Leverkusen the lead at Hoffenheim. photo
© Uwe Anspach/dpa
Leverkusen goalkeeper Hradecky thanks match winner Grimaldo with a “kiss”. The strong Alonso team makes it exciting against Hoffenheim.
A bit sloppy like goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky, but also brilliant like Florian Wirtz and Alejandro Grimaldo: Bayer Leverkusen remains top of the Bundesliga table after an up-and-down game.
Coach Xabi Alonso’s team won 3-2 (2-0) at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and celebrated their ninth win on matchday ten. After that, goalkeeper Hradecky in particular blew through.
“It’s very nice that you can still turn games like this around. Especially after I lit a small fire,” said the Finn and admitted his mistake before the 1-2 with a smile: “That didn’t do us any good.”
The fleet-footed Leverkusen team seemed to be safely ahead 2-0 at the break thanks to goals from the two outstanding Wirtz (9th minute) and Grimaldo (45th + 1). In front of 30,150 spectators in the sold-out stadium in Sinsheim, a bad pass from Hradecky led to Anton Stach (56th) scoring from 35 meters. Two minutes later, Hoffenheim surprisingly managed to equalize through Wout Weghorst. Again the Spaniard Grimaldo with his left foot brought Bayer victory (70th).
Leverkusen sets club record
“He already got a kiss,” Hradecky later said about Grimaldo with a grin, but indicated with a gesture that it was only an air kiss: “Not on the mouth.” In the Sky interview, the 33-year-old had previously said: “The team saved me today, if we win games like this, come back and show character, then…” But the Bayer keeper didn’t want to go into the topic of the championship.
With 15 games in a row without defeat, the Leverkusen team set their club record – this was last achieved in 2001/2002 under coach Klaus Toppmöller. Before the next challenge in the Europa League on Thursday at FK Karabakh Agdam in Azerbaijan, the Bayer team acted very casually at times, but once again proved their class. “We have wonderful kickers who are good at football, but also have different qualities and are also willing to work hard,” said sports director Simon Rolfes.
Wirtz with a stroke of genius before the 1-0
A stroke of genius once again from Wirtz thrilled the 3,000 fans who had traveled with him after just a few minutes: the 20-year-old national player let Robert Skov and Ozan Kabak run into the void and passed to Victor Boniface, who served the top talent perfectly. All Wirtz had to do was shoot. After the strong start, Leverkusen lost their precision in attack. Nevertheless, the super technicians around Wirtz gave the impression that they could add more at any time – which they did immediately before the break through Grimaldo after a corner.
TSG coach Pellegrino Matarazzo had previously said about the in-form opponents: “They are ready for a title.” But his team suddenly got the guests into trouble after the break. Three minutes after Stach’s goal, a shot from Beier hit the post and Weghorst pushed the ball into the goal to equalize. The Dutch attacker even missed a great header chance to make it 3-2 for the stronger home team. Leverkusen only reacted briefly with surprise to the two goals they conceded: Grimaldo secured Leverkusen their deserved success with a shot. After such precise balls from the Spaniard, Hradecky revealed, “I don’t even throw myself in training anymore.”