Kai Havertz on Sunday starred in his first match wearing the Bayer 04 Leverkusen captain’s armband as his side beat Augsburg 2-0 at the BayArena to edge closer to the Bundesliga top four.
The win takes Leverkusen fifth, level on points with fourth-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach, who have a game in hand.
Germany international Havertz, widely linked with a possible move to Premier League leaders Liverpool at the end of the season, assisted one goal and created several other chances.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Augsburg went close in the opening stages, but it was Leverkusen who scored first, Moussa Diaby taking advantage of an excellent Havertz assist in the 25th minute to score his third goal of this year.
“He set me up beautifully,” Diaby said.
From there on, Leverkusen took the initiative, dominating possession and territory.
They almost doubled their lead in the 53rd minute after another expert pass from Havertz put the ball on a plate for Mitchell Weiser, but the former Bayern Munich winger was unable to control it.
However, the hosts did not have to wait long to get on the score sheet again, with Nadiem Amiri scoring a stunning solo goal to make it 2-0.
After gathering possession in the Augsburg half, Amiri ran past several defenders before firing the ball into the bottom corner to chalk up his first goal for Leverkusen.
Havertz was substituted in the 84th minute to rapturous applause.
Despite the win, Leverkusen coach Peter Bosz said there was still plenty to work on.
“We played back too slowly and too much. When we played faster, our individual quality made us directly dangerous,” Bosz said. “We made so many mistakes that it almost became exciting again.”
Augsburg coach Martin Schmidt lamented his side’s performance.
“It was the game we expected. We took risks, but unfortunately it was too little,” Schmidt said.
In the late game, a brace from Renato Steffen helped VfL Wolfsburg to a 4-0 win over FSV Mainz 05 at the Volkswagen Arena.
Wolfburg have racked up 10 points from a possible 12 to start the year — the second-best in the Bundesliga after Bayern — scoring 12 goals in the process.
“We were too soft to win,” Mainz coach Achim Beierlorzer said.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
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