Eagles beaten in Leverkusen | OneFootball

Eintracht kept Bayer in check for long spells but were deservedly beaten 2-0 after struggling to create clear-cut openings.

Paulinho finished off a Leverkusen counter-attack to give the hosts the lead in the first half, before Patrik Schick doubled their advantage soon after the interval to leave Eintracht in 11th place in the Bundesliga table with two rounds of fixtures remaining.

Eight changes for Eagles

Head coach Oliver Glasner rang the changes for the trip to the BayArena, with Kevin Trapp, Tuta and Filip Kostic the only survivors from the team that started the UEFA Europa League semi-final first-leg win at West Ham. Ragnar Ache was handed his first start in Eintracht colours, while Rafael Borré, Jesper Lindström and Martin Hinteregger were all unavailable.

Eintracht second best

Leverkusen dominated possession in the opening quarter of an hour without properly testing Trapp in the Eintracht goal. That changed after 18 minutes, however, when Sardar Azmoun and Schick combined to release Moussa Diaby down the right-hand side. The Frenchman’s cross towards the far post found Paulinho, who guided the ball through Trapp’s legs and into the net for the opening goal.

Schick thought he had doubled the hosts’ advantage with ten minutes of the first half remaining, but the Czech Republic international was ruled to be in an offside position from Azmoun’s pass and the goal was chalked off. Jens Petter Hauge had Eintracht’s best chance of the first 45 minutes, shooting narrowly wide of Lukas Hradecky’s goal from a tight angle.

No way back

The Eagles made a solid start to the second period but found themselves 2-0 down eight minutes into the half. Sam Lammers was dispossessed by Odilon Kossounou, allowing Diaby to pick out the run of Schick for his 22nd Bundesliga goal of the campaign. The 26-year-old’s strike was initially ruled out for offside, but the goal was awarded following a VAR review.

Azmoun could have added a third for Bayer with 20 minutes remaining but fired straight at Trapp after making space for a shot on the edge of the penalty area. Eintracht, meanwhile, were restricted to half-chances in the closing stages, Ajdin Hrustic going closest with a long-range effort that was easily held by Hradecky.

Summary: Not Eintracht’s day

Given the number of changes to the line-up, it was perhaps no surprise that Eintracht struggled to find their rhythm at the BayArena. The visitors can have few complaints with the final score and will now turn their full attention to Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg.

SGE line-up

Trapp – Tuta (Toure 46’), Hasebe, Ndicka – Chandler, Jakic, Hrustic, Kostic (Knauff 46’) – Hauge (Lammers 46’) – Paciencia (Kamada 82’), Ache (sow 73’)

Goals

1-0 Paulinho (18’) 2-0 Schick (53’)