Bayer Leverkusen moved up to fourth in the table after a Julian Brandt inspired performance against Wolfsburg. The Werkself went ahead in the opening game of matchday 28 through the U21 international and didn’t look back in recording a 3-0 victory over their direct competitors. Bayer 04 are now seven points ahead of eighth-placed Wolfsburg.
Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez and Wladlen Jurtschenko, with his first Bundesliga goal, built on Brandt’s opener to make sure Roger Schmidt’s team recorded their 13th win of the season.
Max Kruse in Wolfsburg’s starting XI
The hosts controlled the match in front of 29,239 spectators and could do whatever they wanted to at will. Wolfsburg, who included Max Kruse in the starting XI were disappointing before the break and would have been happy that Leverkusen didn’t capitalise more on their poor first-half performance.
After good build up play from Karim Bellarabi and Stefan Kießling, Brandt found himself with a chance after a wonderful one-two with Hakan Calhanoglu and gave Diego Benaglio no chance in the Wolfsburg goal, allowing Bayer 04 to take a deserved lead. Ex-Leverkusen man André Schürrle tried to create openings in attack for Wolfsburg but all of the World Champion’s efforts fizzled out before he could get into the host’s box. Kruse was substituted in the 63rd minute after not having any luck against Leverkusen’s strong defence, who made do without their injured defensive leader Ömer Toprak.
Chicharito nets his 15th of the season
Wolfsburg were still missing their cutting edge after the restart and Brandt found himself with an opportunity for Bayer 04 early in the second half after good work from Calhanoglu but couldn’t hit the target. The visitors started to play more courageously but still found linking up in the final third difficult. The Wolves resistance was broken after Chicharito’s 15th goal of the season though. The Werkself stayed dangerous with opportunities on the counter as they took their foot off the gas and gained confidence ahead of further challenges in the end-of-season run-in.
More good news for Leverkusen was that their captain Lars Bender played 60 minutes on his come back from injury and came through unscathed. There was a large amount of applause when the Germany international was substituted for goalscorer Chicharito. Summer recruit Charles Aranguiz celebrated his Bundesliga début when he came on in the 88th minute.
Bayer Leverkusen moved up to fourth in the table after a Julian Brandt inspired performance against Wolfsburg. The Werkself went ahead in the opening game of matchday 28 through the U21 international and didn’t look back in recording a 3-0 victory over their direct competitors. Bayer 04 are now seven points ahead of eighth-placed Wolfsburg.
Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez and Wladlen Jurtschenko, with his first Bundesliga goal, built on Brandt’s opener to make sure Roger Schmidt’s team recorded their 13th win of the season.
Max Kruse in Wolfsburg’s starting XI
The hosts controlled the match in front of 29,239 spectators and could do whatever they wanted to at will. Wolfsburg, who included Max Kruse in the starting XI were disappointing before the break and would have been happy that Leverkusen didn’t capitalise more on their poor first-half performance.
After good build up play from Karim Bellarabi and Stefan Kießling, Brandt found himself with a chance after a wonderful one-two with Hakan Calhanoglu and gave Diego Benaglio no chance in the Wolfsburg goal, allowing Bayer 04 to take a deserved lead. Ex-Leverkusen man André Schürrle tried to create openings in attack for Wolfsburg but all of the World Champion’s efforts fizzled out before he could get into the host’s box. Kruse was substituted in the 63rd minute after not having any luck against Leverkusen’s strong defence, who made do without their injured defensive leader Ömer Toprak.
Chicharito nets his 15th of the season
Wolfsburg were still missing their cutting edge after the restart and Brandt found himself with an opportunity for Bayer 04 early in the second half after good work from Calhanoglu but couldn’t hit the target. The visitors started to play more courageously but still found linking up in the final third difficult. The Wolves resistance was broken after Chicharito’s 15th goal of the season though. The Werkself stayed dangerous with opportunities on the counter as they took their foot off the gas and gained confidence ahead of further challenges in the end-of-season run-in.
More good news for Leverkusen was that their captain Lars Bender played 60 minutes on his come back from injury and came through unscathed. There was a large amount of applause when the Germany international was substituted for goalscorer Chicharito. Summer recruit Charles Aranguiz celebrated his Bundesliga début when he came on in the 88th minute.
