This Wednesday, Bayer Leverkusen welcome FC Koln in the BayArena for matchday 32 of the Bundesliga. In another derby without the presence of fans, the hosts dominated the match and got a 3-1 victory. Sven Bender, Kai Havertz, and Moussa Diaby scored for the home side, while Sebastiaan Bornauw scored the only goal of the visitors.
Leverkusen started the first half throwing themselves on their opponents. Being at home, even behind closed doors, they wanted to get ahead on the scoring. And they did it at the 7th minute. After a corner from Leon Bailey, Bender used his left foot to put the ball into the back of Timo Horn’s goal.
With the advantage, the hosts didn’t stop attacking and took control of the game. Koln had basically no chance to play and Leverkusen were getting closer and closer to their second goal. It almost happened at the 13th minute, on an incredible play of Diaby, but the number 19 stopped on Horn’s hands.
However, it was a matter of time until they finally doubled the scoring. After missing a great opportunity at the 37th minute, Havertz appeared two minutes later to put the ball into the back of the net, after Bailey’s assist.
Losing by two goals, FC Koln came back to the second half playing differently. Manager Markus Gisdol made two subs and put a high defensive line. It made effect, once the visitors were finally starting to create chances. And, after trying a few times, they found their goal at the 58th minute. After a corner, defender Bornauw jumped higher than the defense and put the ball into the back of Lukas Hradecky’s goal.
Afraid of losing the three points, Leverkusen tried to take control of the match once again. They were once again creating good chances and missing goal opportunities. However, at the 83rd minute, they found their third goal with Diaby. He made the play and shot on the far post to score.
With the 3-1 victory, Bayern Leverkusen reaches 60 points and returned to 4th place. FC Koln, on the other hand, remains in 13th place with only 35 points.