SC Freiburg 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen
Bayer Leverkusen went back to their winning ways as they defeated SC Freiburg during their latest Bundesliga match at the Schwarzwald-Stadion last Friday night.
The game wasn’t at all pretty as both teams struggled mightily to score despite creating a lot of great chances, which makes this victory a sweet one particularly for the road team after being humiliated by VfL Wolfsburg last Tuesday.
German top-flight sensation Kai Havertz fired in the only goal of the game via a close-range shot after receiving a pass from Leon Bailey. It was the 20-year-old’s 14th goal of this season.
The result lifted the Bundesliga dark horses up to two spots at the table and they are now sitting at third with 56 points behind contenders Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.
Meanwhile, SC Freiburg are still on the eighth spot with 38 points after extending their winless run to four matches since the Bundesliga resumed back in May 16 following a two-month hiatus due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.d
The inspiring result should give Bayer Leverkusen a ton of confidence ahead of their next match because of their improved Bundesliga 2020 odds while SC Freiburg are in danger to slip further down to the 11th spot if they don’t get their act together soon.
SBOBET recaps last Friday night’s set of Bundesliga 2020 highlights.
Highlights of the game
Bayer Leverkusen’s journey towards a bounce back got off to a good note when they controlled around 70-per cent of the possession in the first 20 minutes.
However, during those 20 minutes, SC Freiburg had some decent chances as well which included a set-piece in the eighth minute up until Lukas Hradecky punched the ball away for a possible shot on target.
The stalemate continued all throughout the first half with both teams struggling to find a chance.
But on the 43rd minute, Leon Bailey flirted with his first shot on target but his missed attempt opened an opportunity for Lucas Holer to score via a counterattack. He was left all alone against Lukas Hradecky, but his low shot towards the bottom right corner went a little bit too wide.
Die Werkself continued to dominate possession in the second half which led to them making a breakthrough.
In the 53rd minute, they had an opportunity via a corner kick but both Julian Baumgartlinger and Charles Aranguiz failed to head the ball in.
Less than a minute later, Kai Havertz would finally score his 35th career Bundesliga goal after a brilliant exchange with Leon Bailey. He first flicked the ball to Bailey before continuing to run into the penalty area and he slotted the ball between the legs of Alexander Schwolow after receiving the pass back.
Florian Wirtz tried to follow up with his first-ever Bayer Leverkusen goal in the 56th minute, but the 17-year-old’s strike went too wide over to the left.
Desperate to draw level, Freiburg did all the could in order to score one for themselves. One of their best chances came at the 68th minute when substitute Jonathan Schmid fired from long range, but the strike was just a whisker away from it entering the back of the net.
Nils Petersen had his last-gasp attempt at the 88th minute when he found himself open near inside the box, but Lukas Hradecky made an excellent save to secure the three points for his Bayer Leverkusen team.
Key statistics
Kai Havertz, who wasn’t around in their last matchup, made history by being the first player to notch 35 Bundesliga goals before turning 21 years old. The Bayer star has now scored five goals since Bundesliga’s restart, which is more than any other player in the league currently.
Nils Petersen, who made his Bundesliga debut against Bayer Leverkusen playing for Energie Cottbus back in 2009, has only found the back of the net twice in his seven matches against Die Werkself.
Bayer Leverkusen are undefeated in their last six fixtures against SC Freiburg (W3, D3) and they won in the Schwarzwald-Stadion for the first time since October 2011.
What’s next?
Bayer Leverkusen will be in for a heavyweight clash against Bayern Munich on their home pitch on Saturday before heading out to the Veltins-Arena to face Schalke 04 on June 15th.
SC Freiburg, on the other hand, will look to recoup as they host Borussia Monchengladbach this weekend. And then they’ll face VfL Wolfsburg and Hertha BSC in their next two matches.
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