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Bayer Leverkusen beat Hapoel Beer Sheva at home with much more confidence than in the first leg. Werkself won 4-1 (1-0) on matchday four of the Europa League and now need only one point to mathematically qualify for the round of 32 of the competition. Patrik Schick scored the lead (29th minute), Leon Bailey scored the 2-0 goal (48th). The visitors arrived after Leverkusen’s mistake in connecting goals from Itamar Shviro (58th), Kerem Demirbay (76th) and Lucas Alario (80th) decided the game.
The balance of power in Leverkusen was soon resolved: in the first half, Hapoel did not have a single grade, Bayer deployed pass after pass in the opponent’s half and obtained 84% of ball possession. Fewer, but still sufficient, chances against low guests from Israel: Demirbay should have scored from six meters to take the lead, but failed after Bailey’s deflected cross on the post (23).
Schick did better: after Tin Jedvaj extended a Nadiem Amiri corner in the center, the ball bounced off the Czech’s thigh almost by accident. For Schick it was the first use in seven weeks after a muscle fiber tear. Ten minutes later he also had a chance for a brace from the next corner, but his header just missed the far post.
Only the next drop, then it becomes clear after all
After the break, Bailey seemed to be able to provide clear conditions at the start: after a pass from Wendell, the Jamaican made room with a kick and scored with a low shot for 2-0. Defender Jedvaj was able to attribute to the fact that it was still tight: during the preparation, the Leverkusen player played a cross pass directly into Shviro’s run, which he was able to insert into the empty goal. Goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky, who stood out with a strange own goal against Arminia Bielefeld at the weekend, is not to blame: he had positioned himself as a pass for Jedvaj on the edge of the area.
The decision resulted in a dead ball: Demirbay surrounded a free kick from 20 meters to the bottom edge of the crossbar and into the goal. Substitute Alario scored 4: 1 as a stab. In Group C, Leverkusen, who have won eight of their last nine competitive matches, now have nine points, as do Slavia Prague.
Mathematically, Bayer can still be intercepted by OGC Nice (three points), but in practice the sixteenth final must be booked: the French should win the last two games, Leverkusen should not get more points and should lose the direct confrontation with the ‘OGC. However, Bayer won the first leg against Nice 6-2.
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