3rd match day
Baumgartner’s stroke of genius makes Bayer’s horror start perfect
Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky cannot prevent Hoffenheim’s Andrej Kramaric (r) from making it 0: 2. photo
© Federico Gambarini/dpa
It’s getting more and more bitter for Bayer Leverkusen. Against Hoffenheim there is the fourth defeat in the fourth game of the season.
Bayer Leverkusen made a real horror start in the Bundesliga.
The Champions League participant suffered a 0:3 (0:2) home defeat against TSG Hoffenheim and thus also lost the fourth competitive game of the season. Only a hefty defeat by VfL Bochum by at least four goals against FC Bayern on Sunday could prevent coach Gerardo Seoane’s team from bottoming out after the third matchday. In addition, the Werkself, who are known for their attacking football, scored one goal fewer than all 17 of their rivals.
Hoffenheim’s coach André Breitenreiter is spared a negative record in the Bundesliga. For the first time after 23 unsuccessful attempts and since October 2017 he has won an away game. Ex-Freiburger Volker Finke’s record is 29. A spectacular back-heel by Christoph Baumgartner (9th) ensured that Bayer fell behind in the first quarter of an hour in all four competitive games this season. Goal scorer Andrej Kramaric with his first goal of the season (35th) and Georginio Rutter (78th) followed suit. Hoffenheim got off to a good start with six points.
The stadium was not sold out with 26,339 spectators. And this despite the fact that Bayer had issued up to four free tickets to stadium neighbors to compensate for the restrictions during the season. An action that was often mockingly commented on on social media. The free campaign has been around for ten years, but since Bayer didn’t welcome 23,000 spectators against Augsburg – there have never been fewer in a first home game since the stadium was renovated in 2009 – many described this as an act of desperation.
Leverkusen, who were able to fall back on their leaders Lukas Hradecky and Robert Andrich, started attacking as usual. Moussa Diaby had a great chance to take the lead after six minutes, but Oliver Baumann parried his shot from a tight angle well. And shortly afterwards the Werkself were behind again after Baumgartner’s little stroke of genius: The Austrian took the ball with his back to the goal and, to the astonishment of Jonathan Tah and Hradecky, kicked it into the goal.
In contrast to the previous players, Leverkusen actually digested the deficit well, continued to play courageously and had Patrik Schick’s equalizer on their feet (14′). But the guests were handy – and efficient. After a cross from Ozan Kabak, Hradecky misjudged and Kramaric pushed the ball over the line. Now there were already the first whistles from the ranks.
This time it was a hit and Leverkusen were lucky that the game wasn’t decided four minutes later. The supposed 0:3 by Robert Skov was disallowed because Kabak had previously fouled Adam Hlozek in his own penalty area. Significant for the current situation in Leverkusen: Seoane made the switch, ordered Azmoun up front alongside Schick – and the Iranian blocked a shot from his strike partner, which had probably gone into the goal, on his first action after the change (48′). After that, Bayer didn’t have enough chances and Rutten made the decision with a shot worth seeing.
Information about the game at bundesliga.de