PLAYER RATINGS | Werder Bremen 2-2 Bayer Leverkusen

For the second time this week Bayer Leverkusen fail to capitalise and sercume to a 2-2 draw with Werder Bremen at the Weserstadion.

The first half was relatively uneventful as Leverkusen were, as expected, the dominant side but they did not have the clearest chances in front of goal. Several times Bremen were played through but each time they were unable to take advantage of their chances, such as Marvin Ducksch’s tame chip attempt.

However, as is the case against bigger teams Bremen were punished. Leverkusen played the ball down the right-hand side allowing Jeremie Frimpong to cross the ball into the box before it was converted into the net by Victor Boniface to give Leverkusen the lead.

The game opened up a lot more in the second half and Leverkusen had their fair share of chances to double their lead but were unable to capitalise as Bremen’s Michael Zetterer made important saves. The same could also be said by Bremen at the other end as Ducksch continued to challenge Lukas Hradecky and was finally rewarded when he equalised in the 74th minute with a header but Bremen were not able to hold on for long as Felix Agu diverted a cross into his own net.

Bremen, however, did not settle and continued to push Leverkuusen and they equalised once again in the 90th minute from a long range effort from Romano Schmid.

Leverkusen were once again not at their best this evening. Similar to the game against Brest in midweek, they were in control of the game but continued to let their opponent have chances to get back into the game and they were punished once again.

The main talking point once again will be their defence as they have once again failed to keep a clean sheet and allowed Bremen to come back into the game, not once but twice. Next weekend they host VfB Stuttgart, if they are unable to patch up their defensive issues, it will not end well for them.

Werder Bremen XI:

Michael Zetterer (7), Julian Malatini (6), Marco Friedl (5), Amos Pieper (5), Mitchell Weiser (6), Leonardo Bittencourt (6), Senne Lynen (5), Felix Agu (5), Marco Grüll (5), Romano Schimd (6), Marvin Ducksch (8)

Others: Justin Nijnmah (6), Oliver Burke (-), Anthony Jung (-), Derrick Köhn (-), Keke Topp (-)

Bayer Leverkusen XI:

Lukas Hradecky (5), Edmond Tapsoba (5), Jonathan Tah (5), Piero Hincapié (5), Jeremie Frimpong (6), Granit Xhaka (5), Robert Andrich (5), Ajelandro Grimaldo (5), Florian Wirtz (6), Martin Terrier (6), Victor Boniface (6)

Others: Patrik Schick (5), Aleix Garcia (5)

GGFN Man of the Match: Marvin Ducksch (8)

The Bremen striker caused issues for Leverkusen’s backline all evening before his goal, better finishing would have helped but he was able to trouble Hradecky a lot and was rewarded with his goal in the 74th minute. Ducksch was also able to add a creative element to his game as he created the joint most chances in the whole game.

GGFN | Jack Meenan