The Bayer fans celebrated Moussa Diaby, and the best Leverkusen man made the wave on his own. Led by the celebrated double goal scorer, Bayer Leverkusen took a step out of the sporting crisis with a football festival and is well on its way to the second round of the Europa League. The team of coach Gerardo Seoane defeated Betis Sevilla on Thursday evening deserved 4-0 (1-0). Goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky praised: “We really wanted to win today and we fought all the more for it. It was a great team performance.”
The outstanding Diaby scored the decisive goals for the Rhinelander in the 42nd and 52nd minutes in front of 15,208 spectators in the Leverkusen stadium. The other goals were scored by Florian Wirtz (86th) and Nadiem Amiri (90th) after Diaby preparatory work, before Nabil Fekir and Kerem Demirbay saw red in stoppage time. “That was a good end,” said coach Gerardo Seoane of his celebrated double goalscorer. “That is part of the development process,” said the coach, commenting on the problems in the previous games.
After five competitive games without a win, Bayer 04 improved significantly despite serious injury concerns and earned the success with self-sacrificing commitment and beautiful plays. Leverkusen played energetically from the start and pulled forward. The Werkself quickly bridged midfield and tried again and again to stage Diaby, Amine Adli and Wirtz.
Bayer 04, which had to do without six potential regular players, controlled the game and became more and more determined. It took the Spanish guests more than half an hour before they radiated a real goal danger for the first time. Bayer goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky prevented the deficit after a shot by Nabil Fekir. When there were already many signs of a 0-0 break, Diaby took the lead in Leverkusen. The fast offensive man completed a counterattack with a direct acceptance that was worth seeing. With a deflected shot, he increased to 2-0 shortly after the break.
Seville created the game a little more evenly, but had no luck with the deals. Instead, the Spaniards received more hits shortly before the final whistle from Wirtz and Amiri.