Leverkusen Secures Comfortable 2-0 Win Over Freiburg to Break Into Top Four
Bayer Leverkusen moved into the Bundesliga’s top four with a convincing 2-0 victory over Freiburg at the BayArena, extending there unbeaten head-to-head record to six matches in the process.
After suffering a humiliating 7-2 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League during midweek, Die Werkself found themselves under immediate pressure from the visitors. Freiburg came out flying in the opening minutes, with goalkeeper Mark Flekken pulling off two excellent saves at his near post to keep out efforts from Derry Scherhant and Junior Adamu within the first five minutes. Christian Kofane then went close at the other end, heading just over the bar.
Gradually though, Leverkusen started to settle into the game and took the lead around the halfway point of the first half. Ernest Poku was the man who broke the deadlock, firing into the bottom corner from distance after exchanging a clever one-two with Aleix García. It was a well-worked goal that gave the home side some much-needed confidence.
Freiburg’s best response before halftime came from a Scherhant free-kick that drifted narrowly wide, but they were still very much in the contest. Afterall, both teams had scored in each of the previous 10 meetings between these two sides, so there was reason to believe they could get back into it.
However, any hopes Julian Schuster’s team had of mounting a comeback were seriously dented just seven minutes into the second half. Alejandro Grimaldo delivered a perfect cross from the right flank, and Edmond Tapsoba rose highest to head home his first league goal at the BayArena since January 2023. It was a crucial moment that effectively killed off the game as a contest.
Things went from bad to worse for the visitors when Philipp Lienhart recieved his second yellow card for a foul on the right wing, leaving Freiburg to play out the remainder of the match with 10 men. From that point on, it was plain sailing for Die Werkself, who controlled possesion and saw out the victory with relative ease.
The win extends Leverkusen’s unbeaten streak in the Bundesliga under manager Kasper Hjulmand to six matches, with this being there fourth consecutive win in the competition – their best run since January. For Freiburg, it marks their first defeat in nine games across all competitions, although they remain stuck in the bottom half of the table having failed to win any of their last four Bundesliga fixtures.