Armed with a formidable pre-round league record against sides starting the weekend outside the top four (W9, D2, L1), Leverkusen dictated the opening passages.
They looked to have gone ahead just before the quarter-hour mark, as Loic Bade put a ball into the box for Patrik Schick to head in, only for a VAR call to reveal that he’d handled before making the final touch. Schick then came a whisker from being a provider when he played the ball to Ernest Poku at the far post, only for the Dutchman to sky his close-range effort over the bar.
Although Bremen struggled to impose themselves, they did have some reason to feel aggrieved on 26’, when an apparent Ibrahim Maza trip on Marco Grüll went unpunished and without review.
But normal service was soon resumed, and after scaring the Green-Whites with a decent through ball to an offside Poku on the charge, Lucas Vazquez struck gold in the 37th minute, when a sequence of passes around the box saw Maza play a clever pass to the Spaniard, who drilled into the bottom-left corner for his first Leverkusen goal.
In the closing minutes before half-time, Justin Njinmah and Maza – with a deft header and a long-range shot respectively – both had enough time to hit the post, ending the first half on something of a cliffhanger.
However, the second period was initially something of a slow burner in comparison to the first, with Bremen showing improved organisation at the back, despite Poku remaining something of a menacing figure in the final third.
With Leverkusen perhaps starting to feel the physical and psychological after effects of a loss on Greek soil in the UEFA Champions League (UCL), the home faithful’s nerves only continued to grow as the match reached the three-quarter mark.
Only the glove of a quick-thinking Mio Backhaus stopped Álex Grimaldo from finally ending the suspense, as he aimed to squeeze in a shot from a tight angle at the near post.
Given that Bremen had seen nine – over a third – of their 21 prior league goals arrive in the final 15 minutes of play, there was still something on paper to give the travelling contingent some hope.
But Leverkusen did their job effectively in the closing minutes, winning for the first time in four H2Hs and giving their hopes of UCL qualification a much-needed revival. As for Bremen, they are now winless in their last eight away matches (D3, L5).
Flashscore Man of the Match: Lucas Vazquez (Bayer Leverkusen)