There was no holding back today, no decision to “play safe”, the best defending was the thirst for goals and only three minutes into the match, Mario Gómez delivered a right to the jaw of Leverkusen
re-directing Ludovic Magnin’s cross into the net. That was the lone goal of the half and although the hosts controlled much of the play, VfB’s midfield met each challenge at kept the attempts at leveling the match from a distance.
The temperature turned up quite a bit after the break, Schwaben searching for the next spot to pounce, an early narrow miss by Roberto Hilbert gave Leverkusen life. However only four minutes after the restart the hosts were a man down after Arturo Vidal received his second yellow for fouling Mario Gómez just outside the box. Poised for a quick strike, Thomas Hitzlsperger stepped up to the free-kick and ripped the ball into the netting to double VfB’s lead. The home side, desperate to get back into the match were thrown a lifeline seven minutes past the hour as German international Stefan Kießling opportunistically sent a uncleared ball from point blank range. That was as close as Leverkusen got, as a lightning fast counter strike ended with Roberto Hilbert providing Mario Gómez from the six to close out to bring the match to a 3-1 score. Leverkusen was ready to drop and while they still had some fight in them, the cold winter afternoon would end in bitter disappointment for them. The final stages of the match ended with two strikes, first with Lukas Sinkiewicz victimizing his own goal as he inadvertently sent Roberto Hilbert’s cross in, followed up with Leverkusen adding another two minutes into injury-time as Stefan Kießling’s cross was sent in Angelos Charisteas, bringing the match to 4-2.
