Leverkusen (dpa) – Bayer Leverkusen remains on FC Bayern’s heels in the Bundesliga title fight. Coach Xabi Alonso’s team won a hard-fought game against FSV Mainz 05 1-0 (0-0). In the BayArena, which was sold out with 30,210 spectators, Alejandro Grimaldo scored (48th minute) for the reigning champions and cup winners.
With the victory, last season’s double winner moved within one point of the league leaders from Munich. As a surprise team in the first half of the season, Mainz remains within reach of the international places with 28 points. Bo Henriksen’s team confirmed for a long time why they are rightly considered favorites after victories against Bayern, Dortmund and Frankfurt this season.
Burkardt was on the field for just seconds
But right from the start, Mainz had to accept an initial shock. The eagerly awaited duel between the top scorers – Patrik Schick (11 goals this season) and Jonathan Burkardt (12) – was over after just a few seconds. Burkardt, whose use was already questionable before the game, had to stop immediately during the first sprint. He grabbed his left thigh, went down and had to be substituted in the second minute.
Meanwhile, Schick created the first good chance for Bayer. When Anthony Caci lost the ball on the right side of the penalty area, Schick tried from a tight angle after a pass from Florian Wirtz. The ball rolled almost all the way along the goal line, but was then stopped by Andreas Hanche-Olsen from Mainz.
Around 15 minutes later, a low shot from Piero Hincapié just missed Robin Zentner’s goal. Mainz presented itself strong defensively and showed again and again why the team has one of the best defenses in the league. Leverkusen had a lot of possession, but lacked decisiveness due to improper actions.
Celebrations in the second half
The guests lacked offensive power after Burkardt’s early failure. Bayer keeper Matej Kovar, who was called up by Alonso instead of Lukas Hradecky for the second time this Bundesliga season, only had to parry a harmless shot from Jae-sung Lee in the first half. Leverkusen achieved significantly more deals, but were unsuccessful. Wirtz narrowly missed five minutes before halftime. Shortly before the half-time whistle, Zentner parried a powerful shot from Grimaldo after a header rebound from Danny da Costa.
After halftime, Leverkusen were able to celebrate. Grimaldo converted a free kick from around 18 meters over the Mainz wall into the right corner. After breaking free, Kovar had to stretch hard on the other side after a shot from Kaishu Sano. After Stefan Bell almost hit his own goal while clearing a corner, it was Wirtz again who shot from distance but was again denied by Zentner. Even after that, Leverkusen had chances, especially from distance, but had no luck. Mainz fought in the final phase but couldn’t connect.
