Borussia beaten 3-0 by Leverkusen

Borussia suffered a 3-0 defeat against Bayer Leverkusen on the second matchday of the Bundesliga season.

The 54,042 spectators in a sold-out BORUSSIA-PARK saw the visitors dominate the first half, leaving the Foals in their wake with their quick passing game. Victor Boniface put Bayer ahead in the 19th minute. Leverkusen then let a series of chances go by before Jonathan Tah doubled the lead to 2-0 shortly before the half time whistle. After the break, Bayer remained in control and struck again in the 53rd minute through Boniface to round off the scoring. Borussia didn’t give up and had multiple opportunities to get a goal back, but the scoreline stayed at 3-0.

TEAM NEWS

Head coach Gerardo Seoane made a change to his starting formation. Marvin Friedrich came in for the injured Luca Netz and made up a back three with Ko Itakura and Max Wöber. Franck Honorat on the right and Joe Scally on the left functioned as wing-backs. Julian Weigl and Florian Neuhaus made up the defensive midfield, while captain Jonas Omlin was in goal. Nathan Ngoumou, Alassane Plea and up front, Tomáš Čvančara began in attack.

In addition to Luca Netz (knock), Christoph Kramer and Manu Koné both missed out through injury.

FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS

9’: First chance of the game as Wirtz plays in Boniface in the penalty area, whose volley is deflected wide by Friedrich.

19’: Bayer take the lead. Xhaka plays a diagonal pass onto the head of Grimaldo. The Spaniard crosses into the centre, where Boniface heads home unchallenged from four metres to make it 1-0.

22’: Leverkusen nearly strike again immediately. After a headed pass from Tapsoba, Xhaka finds the bottom left corner from 18 metres, however Boniface was offside in the build-up so the goal is disallowed.

41’: That’s more like it! Plea sends Honorat away on the left. The Frenchman plays it inside and Čvančara is clean through, but arrives just a step too late.

45+6’: Bayer strike again shortly before the break. Again, it’s a diagonal ball from Xhaka, from which Hofmann plays it inside from the right to Tah, who finishes into the bottom left corner for 2-0.

SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS

49’: The first opportunity after the restart falls to Borussia. Friedrich comes up from the back and hits the side netting from an inside right position.

53’: Bayer round off the scoring at 3-0. Wirtz plays Boniface through and he shows no hesitation in poking the ball past Omlin into the net.

61’: Good try from Plea, who tries his luck from 25 metres, but his effort flies over the crossbar.

68’: After a corner from Honorat, Itakura climbs highest, but Hradecky is alert and stops the Japan international’s header in the top left corner.

77’: Čvančara cleverly picks out Honorat, whose first time effort lands in the arms of Hradecky.

STATISTICS

Borussia: Omlin – Friedrich, Itakura (Ullrich 88’), Wöber – Honorat (Borges Sanches 78’), Scally – Neuhaus (Reitz 67’), Weigl – Plea, Ngoumou (Hack 67’), Čvančara (Ranos 79’) // Unused substitutes: Nicolas, Chiarodia, Herrmann, Jantschke

Bayer: Hradecky – Kossounou (Stanisic 81’), Tah, Tapsoba – Frimpong (Arthur 70’), Palacios (Andrich 70’), Xhaka, Grimaldo – Hofmann (Hlozek 81’), Wirtz – Boniface (Puerta 88’) // Unused substitutes: Kovar, Fosu-Mensah, Amiri, Mbamba

Goals: 0-1 Boniface (19’), 0-2 Tah (45+6’), 0-3 Boniface (53’)

Yellow cards: Čvančara, Itakura – Boniface, Frimpong, Tah

Attendance: 54,042 (sold-out)

Referee: Christian Dingert