Never before had Freiburg collected 13 points from their first five Bundesliga games, and they travelled to the BayArena sitting on top of the table. They left with their first defeat of the season and without the top spot, because Bayer Leverkusen turned the game around and won 2-1 on Sunday afternoon.
The match had a bizarre start: play was stopped after two minutes when the travelling supporters began hurling tennis balls, and Freiburg coach Julian Schuster had to plead with his own fans to stop. When football resumed, the visitors struck first. In the 14th minute Philipp Treu won the ball, worked a one-two with Niklas Beste and set up Derry Scherhant, who scored from close range.
Leverkusen needed only five minutes to reply. After a mix-up in the Freiburg defence, Patrik Schick slipped the ball to Ibrahim Maza, who flicked it home with the outside of his right foot. Schick then had a header ruled out for offside and wasted a big chance just before the hour.
The decisive moment belonged to Maza again. With 14 minutes left, the midfielder held off three defenders on the byline and squared the ball for Schick, who could not miss. The goal made the Czech striker the first Leverkusen player to score in each of the opening six league matches of a season. Freiburg pushed late, and substitute Lucas Höler headed just wide with almost the final touch, but coach Carles Martínez’s side held on.
The win lifts Leverkusen level on points with Freiburg, one behind leaders Bayern Munich, who thrashed RB Leipzig on Saturday. Maza, who had a hand in both goals, was the obvious choice as player of the match.
