Bayer Leverkusen extend unbeaten run while snapping Stuttgart's home streak
Bundesliga form team Bayer Leverkusen extended their unbeaten streak to ten games with a 2-0 win over VfB Stuttgart, with Leon Bailey and Bernd Leno outstanding for Die Werkself as they became the first team to win at the Mercedes-Benz Arena this season.
Stuttgart 0-2 Leverkusen
Goals: 0-1 Havertz (21'), 0-2 L. Bender (80')
The will was there for the hosts, but something was getting clogged up in their movement, while Leverkusen's slicker, swift approach drew first blood in the 21st minute. The irrepressible Leon Bailey dribbled – or rather danced – his way in from the left and cut the ball back for Kai Havertz, who slotted his shot first time into the bottom corner. It was a clinical move and finish, and ultimately deserved with the guests having six shots on goal to Stuttgart's solitary effort in the first half.
Emiliano Insua struck the sweetest of efforts to sting the fingertips of Bernd Leno, whose top-drawer save kept his side ahead early in the second half. Leno's one-handed save denied Berkay Özcan moments later, before the last line of the Leverkusen defence raised the barricades again to deny Insua instinctively. At the other end, Benjamin Henrichs was denied his first Bundesliga goal by the post before Lars Bender headed in from a corner to extend Leverkusen's unbeaten streak to 10 games.
Watch: Bailey: "Coach said we'd be the first to beat them!"
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Match stats
- Stuttgart's unbeaten home record came to an end after five wins and a draw.Leverkusen are on a ten-match unbeaten run in the Bundesliga (W5, D5). It’s currently the longest run in the league and the longest for the club in two and a half years.Stuttgart are now without a win in 13 against Leverkusen (D3, L10), which is their longest winless run against a team in Bundesliga history. Die Werkself’s 34 Bundesliga victories over VfB is a club record. Leverkusen’s 16 league wins at Stuttgart is also the most in their history.Leverkusen have scored in their last 20 Bundesliga games. It’s currently the longest run in the league and the best for the club in 12 years.Bayer are the only club to have scored in every Bundesliga game so far this season.Four of Havertz's last five goals have been scored away from home; this was his first of the season.Havertz has become Leverkusen's 13 different goalscorer this season – more than any other club.
Line-ups
Stuttgart: Zieler - Pavard, Badstuber, Baumgartl, Kaminski (68' Akolo), Insua - Ascaibar, Gentner (c) (73' Mangala) - Donis, Özcan (85' Asano) - Terodde
Substitutes: Grahl, Ofori, Ailton, Beck
Absentees: Zimmermann (knee), Mane (knee), Meyer (thigh), Burnic (knee), Ginczek (hip), Aogo (ill)
Coach: Hannes Wolf
Bayer Leverkusen: Leno - Tah, S. Bender, Retsos (46' Baumgartlinger) - Kohr, L. Bender (c) – Mehmedi (61' Henrichs), Havertz, Brandt (72' Bellarabi), Bailey - Volland
Substitutes: Alario, Jedvaj, Pohjanpalo, Lomb
Absentees: Wendell (suspended), Yurchenko (bruised foot), Aranguiz (calf)
Coach: Heiko Herrlich
Watch: Leno: "My best game ever!"