Schick and Leverkusen too strong for Gladbach

Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Goals: 1-0 Sommer o.g. (3’), 2-0 Schick (8’), 3-0 Diaby (55’), 4-0 Amiri (87')

The game was only three minutes old when the tone for the evening was set. Mitchel Bakker’s low drive from outside the box rebounded back off the post straight onto a helpless Yann Sommer and into the net to put Leverkusen ahead. Things got even better for Bayer just five minutes later when Diaby raced clear of Joe Scally down the right and cut the ball back to Schick centrally on the edge of the box. The UEFA Euro 2020 top scorer wasted no time in controlling and finishing with aplomb inside the far post. Left-back Scally was the biggest threat going forward for Gladbach – who lost Marcus Thuram to injury after 20 minutes – and had two of their five shots but without really posing a danger. Just moments after Sommer had denied Schick a second, the Foals had a golden chance to get back into the game when Bakker was adjudged to have taken down Stefan Lainer – who also had to go off injured – in the box. Captain Lars Stindl stepped up to take but saw his effort saved by Lukas Hradecky.

The Foals came racing out the blocks for the second half and Florian Neuhaus had an early chance when he headed Ramy Bensebaini’s cross over. But Die Werkself once again used the wings to great effect to get a third. Bakker raced past Paulinho on the overlap, crossed deep for Diaby, whose shot took a fortunate deflection off Bensebaini and past Sommer to inflict further Mönchengladbach misery. It got even worse when defensive stalwart Matthias Ginter also had to go off with a knock, and the fourth goal very much summed up the way game had gone as Sommer failed to hold a Nadiem Amiri shot and the ball crept agonisingly over the line. A day to forget for the Foals after the high of their opening draw with champions Bayern Munich, while new Leverkusen boss Gerardo Seoane enjoyed a successful home debut in the Bundesliga in front of over 15,000 spectators at the BayArena.

• Sommer scored an own goal for the first time in his 231st Bundesliga appearance.
• The opening goal was the fastest so far this season and Leverkusen’s earliest since Kevin Volland scored inside two minutes against Mainz in June 2020.
• Schick has now scored one goal in each of his three Bundesliga games against Gladbach. This one ended a run of eight league matches without a goal.
• Leverkusen scored twice in the opening eight minutes for the first time since 6 November 2009 when they led 2-0 against Eintracht Frankfurt after six minutes in their 4-0 win.
• After scoring on the opening weekend, Diaby has now had a direct hand in three of Leverkusen’s four goals this Bundesliga campaign.
• Bayer have now won their last four league encounters with Gladbach, having lost the preceding three.

Watch: Schick: "It was amazing with the fans in the stadium"

Leverkusen: Hradecky (c) - Frimpong, Kossounou, Tah, Bakker – Aranguiz (Baumgartlinger 84’), Palacios (Andrich 68’) - Diaby, Demirbay (Wirtz 81’), Paulinho (Amiri 68’) - Schick (Pohjanpalo 81’)
Unused subs: Lunev, Retsos, Sinkgraven, Weiser
Out: Alario (groin), Bellarabi (thigh), Fosu-Mensah (knee), Hincapie (not included), Tapsoba (ankle)
Coach: Gerardo Seoane

Gladbach: Sommer – Lainer (Bensebaini 45’+1), Ginter (Netz 63’), Elvedi, Scally - Kramer, Neuhaus - Hofmann, Stindl (c), Thuram (Wolf 20’) - Plea (Herrmann 63’)
Unused subs: Sippel, Beyer, Benes, Jantschke, Bennetts
Out: Doucoure (Achilles' tendon), Embolo (thigh), Kone (knee), Zakaria (match fitness)
Coach: Adi Hütter