TOWhen the redeeming goal finally arrived, the excited Xabi Alonso could no longer contain himself. He led his team forward with increasing energy for 94 minutes and then took a huge leap into the air when he scored the last minute goal that clinched Bayer Leverkusen's first round championship. Exequiel Palacios' 1-0 victory against FC Augsburg (90+4) was a hard-fought victory.
“We believed all the time that it could work and we created chances until the last second,” sporting director Simon Rolfes told broadcaster Sky.
“Faith was always there”
The former German international does not want to take the halftime title so seriously: “It's just a snapshot, the only important thing is success. The belief that we could win the game even in the last second was always there. “These wins are the best, something like that at the last second is great.”
Rolfes was also very happy with the replaced Werkself players. “Those who came did well. They quickly took control. “Not everything has gone well yet, but we have done well,” said Rolfes.
Bayern Munich, record champions, will be able to play the recovery match against Union Berlin on January 24 (8:30 p.m.). FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky) no longer run at the end of the first half of the season. The Werkself currently have a four-point lead going into the second half of the season.
Without Tah and Wirtz
Leverkusen was the better team against Augsburg's strong players at home, who had only managed one victory in their previous seven games. In an entertaining and open match at all times, the guests also had many good opportunities to achieve their 14th victory of the season.
What was lacking was final consistency and precision in the shot, until Palacios scored the winning goal. FCA goalkeeper Finn Dahmen had already prevented anything worse from happening.
This time, Robert Andrich took the central role in Leverkusen's defense, which had already been depleted by the addition of Africa Cup regulars Odilon Kossounou and Edmond Tapsoba, as a precautionary measure: Jonathan Tah (four yellow cards) He threatened to be sanctioned. of the best team: there was a threat of playing next weekend against RB Leipzig. Florian Wirtz was also not in the starting eleven, but entered the game after an hour.
What the visitors lacked were goals, although Leverkusen had good chances to take the lead on the scoreboard. Alejandro Grimaldo's shot was blocked by Dahmen (18th), then the Augsburg goalkeeper, together with Felix Uduokhai, also cleared against Patrik Schick (19th).
After Augsburg's chance thanks to a shot from Ermedin Demirovic (22'), Grimaldo hit the crossbar a few minutes later (28'). Dahmen was on hand again for Andrich's header from close range (37').
The second half was also characterized by the visitors' efforts to score a goal, but Schick, Granit Xhaka and Wirtz, in particular, failed to achieve it. Phillip Tietz scored for Augsburg (72'). After the intervention of the video referee, referee Sven Jablonski (Bremen) declared offside. Palacios was then the winner of the match for Bayer.