October 23, 2009
1-1 against Borussia Dortmund
Bayer 04 come from behind
The Werkself remain undefeated in the league under Jupp Heynckes. A capacity crowd at the BayArena saw Manuel Freiedrich head the equaliser on 65 minutes to make it 1-1 against a committed and well-organised Borussia Dortmund side.
Bayer boss Jupp Heynckes admitted after the game that he was less than satisfied with his side’s performance against BVB. After going four games without conceding a goal and playing some exciting and disciplined football at times, the coach thought his side were “a bit too cautious.” Indeed, Bayer made life difficult for themselves in front of a capacity 30,210 crowd at the BayArena.
Bayer got off to a bright start with Simon Rolfes’ replacement Lars Bender going close on two minutes and Toni Kroos, in for Renato Augusto, also went close with a long-range effort two minutes later. After that, Bayer 04 made life difficult for themselves.
The defence was briefly thrown into disarray after Bayer lost the ball in midfield. With eight minutes on the clock, Nelson Valdez sent in an inch-perfect cross for Lucas Barrios to score with a header from eight yards out. This put an end to René Adler’s run of not conceding a goal for 378 minutes and kept Bayer subdued for the a large part of the first half.
Moves break down
Dortmund played very deep and when they did venture forward they ran up against the uncompromising bulwark of Sami Hyypiä. At the same time, Bayer failed to produce much in front of goal. Inaccurate passing and mistimed balls saw promising moves break down.
Eren Derdiyok unleashed a shot from 20 yards out before the break. And that was that. “That was definitely one of our weaker performances,” admitted Adler after the game, “we were too far apart and couldn’t get into the game.” Tranquillo Barnetta summed it up in a few words: “It wasn’t our day.”
But the Werkself of 2009/10 have the ability to fight back. And Bayer did that in the second half as they played towards their own fans. Bayer 04 pressed the cautious Dortmund side, won more of the ball while maintaining a patient approach.
Derdiyok put in the first shot and Heynckes then brought on Theofanis Gekas to replace Lars Bender who made his debut in the starting eleven in a game that pitted him against his brother Sven playing for Dortmund. There was still a lack of penetration. But on days like this - and that’s another lesson of the new season - the Werkself can always rely on set pieces.
Friedrich makes breakthrough
The “stand-in" captain Manuel Friedrich was on just the right spot to meet a Barnetta corner and was able to guide his header into the bottom right corner to level the scores on 65 minutes. Bayer 04 got their second wind and moved up a gear. But there was not enough creativity in the final third and a compact Dortmund defence was rarely threatened.
Borussia Dortmund momentarily had their hearts in their mouths late on when Neven Subotic failed to connect with a cross but it took both his team mates and the Bayer forwards by surprise. The game ended all square and everybody involved agreed the draw was a fair result. "On days like this, you have to be prepared to accept results like this,” declared Manuel Friedrich. And Stefan Kießling, like Jupp Heynckes, was quick to look forward rather than back: “We’ll have to start again against Schalke 04.” Bayer are still undefeated in the league and remain top of the Bundesliga on 22 points until Sunday at least.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Adler - Schwaab, Friedrich, Hyypiä, Castro, Vidal ( Reinartz 82), L. Bender ( Gekas 55), Barnetta, Kroos ( Zdebel 82), Kießling, Derdiyok
Borussia Dortmund: Weidenfeller - Owomoyela, Subotic, Hummels, Dede, S. Bender, Blaszczykowski ( Großkreutz 46), Sahin, Zidan ( Rangelow 72), Barrios, Valdez ( Feulner 84)
Goals: 0:1 Barrios (8), 1:1 Friedrich (65)
Booked: Barnetta, Friedrich, Kroos, Reinartz - Owomoyela, Barrios
Referee: Babak Rafati (Hanover)
Attendance: 30,210 (capacity - BayArena, Leverkusen)
Bayer boss Jupp Heynckes admitted after the game that he was less than satisfied with his side’s performance against BVB. After going four games without conceding a goal and playing some exciting and disciplined football at times, the coach thought his side were “a bit too cautious.” Indeed, Bayer made life difficult for themselves in front of a capacity 30,210 crowd at the BayArena.
Bayer got off to a bright start with Simon Rolfes’ replacement Lars Bender going close on two minutes and Toni Kroos, in for Renato Augusto, also went close with a long-range effort two minutes later. After that, Bayer 04 made life difficult for themselves.
The defence was briefly thrown into disarray after Bayer lost the ball in midfield. With eight minutes on the clock, Nelson Valdez sent in an inch-perfect cross for Lucas Barrios to score with a header from eight yards out. This put an end to René Adler’s run of not conceding a goal for 378 minutes and kept Bayer subdued for the a large part of the first half.
Moves break down
Dortmund played very deep and when they did venture forward they ran up against the uncompromising bulwark of Sami Hyypiä. At the same time, Bayer failed to produce much in front of goal. Inaccurate passing and mistimed balls saw promising moves break down.
Eren Derdiyok unleashed a shot from 20 yards out before the break. And that was that. “That was definitely one of our weaker performances,” admitted Adler after the game, “we were too far apart and couldn’t get into the game.” Tranquillo Barnetta summed it up in a few words: “It wasn’t our day.”
But the Werkself of 2009/10 have the ability to fight back. And Bayer did that in the second half as they played towards their own fans. Bayer 04 pressed the cautious Dortmund side, won more of the ball while maintaining a patient approach.
Derdiyok put in the first shot and Heynckes then brought on Theofanis Gekas to replace Lars Bender who made his debut in the starting eleven in a game that pitted him against his brother Sven playing for Dortmund. There was still a lack of penetration. But on days like this - and that’s another lesson of the new season - the Werkself can always rely on set pieces.
Friedrich makes breakthrough
The “stand-in" captain Manuel Friedrich was on just the right spot to meet a Barnetta corner and was able to guide his header into the bottom right corner to level the scores on 65 minutes. Bayer 04 got their second wind and moved up a gear. But there was not enough creativity in the final third and a compact Dortmund defence was rarely threatened.
Borussia Dortmund momentarily had their hearts in their mouths late on when Neven Subotic failed to connect with a cross but it took both his team mates and the Bayer forwards by surprise. The game ended all square and everybody involved agreed the draw was a fair result. "On days like this, you have to be prepared to accept results like this,” declared Manuel Friedrich. And Stefan Kießling, like Jupp Heynckes, was quick to look forward rather than back: “We’ll have to start again against Schalke 04.” Bayer are still undefeated in the league and remain top of the Bundesliga on 22 points until Sunday at least.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Adler - Schwaab, Friedrich, Hyypiä, Castro, Vidal ( Reinartz 82), L. Bender ( Gekas 55), Barnetta, Kroos ( Zdebel 82), Kießling, Derdiyok
Borussia Dortmund: Weidenfeller - Owomoyela, Subotic, Hummels, Dede, S. Bender, Blaszczykowski ( Großkreutz 46), Sahin, Zidan ( Rangelow 72), Barrios, Valdez ( Feulner 84)
Goals: 0:1 Barrios (8), 1:1 Friedrich (65)
Booked: Barnetta, Friedrich, Kroos, Reinartz - Owomoyela, Barrios
Referee: Babak Rafati (Hanover)
Attendance: 30,210 (capacity - BayArena, Leverkusen)