Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 Mainz

Posted Sunday, January 17, 2010 by Goal.com

Mainz took an early lead through Tim Hoogland, but goals from Michal Kadlec, Tranquillo Barnetta, Toni Kroos and Eren Derdiyok secured three points for Leverkusen.

Juup Heynckes welcomed back Simon Rolfes and Renato Augusto after long-term injury layoffs. For fitness reasons, the two midfielders were deemed only fit to feature as substitutes, however, and Toni Kroos and Stefan Reinartz retained their starting roles.

The visitors lined up in a 4-2-3-1 that featured all of Thomas Tuchel's favoured starting eleven. Aristide Bance, who had been with the Burkina Faso squad at the African Cup of Nations, was able to feature after having a row with his national team manager.

In the early play, the winter champions appeared a bit lethargic from the holidays. Mainz had all the attacking moves and kept the ball in their attacking third. Aristide Bance earned his team's first good opportunity, but headed just over the bar following a fine cross from Jahmir Hyka.
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After several more good forward moves went unrewarded, Florian Heller drew a foul on the edge of the penalty area, and this time, his team made no mistakes.

From the resulting free kick, Zsolt Loew fired at Rene Adler, who was only able to parry off the post. Tim Hoogland was first to the ball and converted a simple tap-in to give Mainz a deserved lead.

The goal seemed to reignite desire in the hosts, who instantaneously reverted to their silky, controlled passing game. Mainz held on for only a few minutes before being overwhelmed by their hosts' relentless pressure.

In the 15th minute, Michal Kadlec headed in an exquisite Toni Kroos corner, and four minutes later, Tranquillo Barnetta fired in the go-ahead goal. The latter was particularly impressive as Stefan Kiessling instinctively found his Swiss teammate, threading a no-look pass between two defenders before Barnetta blasted in off goalkeeper Heinz Mueller's hand.

After taking the lead, Leverkusen pressed on for an insurance goal. An effort from Eren Derdiyok (21) missed wide before Kiessling intercepted an errant Niko Bungert back-pass only to have his shot saved by Mueller.

Mainz were only hanging on by a thread, and their defense finally caved on the half hour mark. After a cross was cleared only to the middle of the penalty area, the unmarked Kroos smacked his volley into the lower left corner to double his team's advantage.

Having taken a comfortable lead, Leverkusen toned down their attacking pressure, but maintained a tight grip on possession. Wayward efforts from Kroos and Kiessling caused Mueller no trouble at all, but Adler was similarly untested and Mainz were left with a mountain to climb as the first half ended.

Tuchel opted more firepower after the break, substituting striker Hyka and Loew in favor of strikers Chadli Amri and Andre Schuerrle.

The visitors had a decent chance of getting back into the game, but Andreas Ivanschitz fired his 30-yard effort just over the bar.

Leverkusen had a few decent chances to put the game to rest, but Kiessling will be disappointed to have put a pair of shots into orbit.

Shortly after the hour mark, new signing Adam Szalai came on for the ineffective Bance, and the visitors began to how some signs of life. With 23 minutes to go, Mainz pulled a goal back under somewhat dubious circumstances as Amri crossed to a wide-open Niko Bungert, who took the ball off his chest and fired in off the right post. Sami Hyypia was up in arms, claiming offside and that he was fouled, but his complaints were ignored, and the visitors were suddenly right back into the game.

Yet, just as before, Leverkusen took their opponents' goal as a stroke of motivation. In the aftermath of conceding, Kroos picked out Derdiyok with a perfect chipped pass, but the Swiss striker's header glanced off the inside of the post and into Mueller's hands.

A minute later, Mueller was far too casual in coming out of his goal, and misplaced a pass that left Arturo Vidal with the ball. Mueller sprinted 30 meters to tip the Chilean's floating shot over the bar, and the hosts remained only narrowly in the lead.

After a 30-yard Kroos piledriver missed just over the bar, Heynckes substituted Rolfes and Renato Augusto for Barnetta and Daniel Schwaab.

Having survived an onslaught, Mainz looked very confident over the final quarter hour, and looked likely to take a point. With eight minutes to go, Ivanschitz hooked in a cross that Elkin Soto was barely able to miss, and Adler stumbled before claiming the ball.

The hosts would prove heartbreakers late, however, as they delivered the knockout blow with two minutes to go. Renato Augusto powered past Florian Heller, tiptoed along the right byline, and crossed to the unmarked Derdiyok who this time took his goal with ease.

Kroos was eager to further his contributions to the scoring sheet, but after Augusto played him into a one-on-one with Mueller, saw his shot blocked. From the following corner, his cross to Kiessling produced yet another shot on goal, but Mueller made a very classy save to preserve a respectable scoreline.

After today's victory, Leverkusen reclaim top spot in the league table, their undefeated record still intact.