The final Bundesliga games of the year struck a bleak tone following the deadly car attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg on Friday, killing at least five people and injuring more than 200. Players and many fans wore black armbands with a minute’s silence preceding each fixture.
On the field, Xabi Alonso’s side were looking to limit Bayern’s dominance at the top of the table ahead of the winter break. Star man Florian Wirtz missed the chance to put Leverkusen ahead from the penalty spot in the 33rd minute, seeing his spot-kick saved brilliantly by Noah Atubolo.
Germany’s under-21 keeper Atubolo has now saved the last three penalties he has faced, but there was little that he could do about what followed. With the game still deadlocked in first-half stoppage time, Wirtz set-up Schick, whose touch and delicate finish provided the moment of quality that the game needed.
Wirtz’s early penalty miss was already a distant memory by the 51st minute, when the Germany star engineered a shooting angle and rifled the ball into the roof of the net. As the rain hammered down in Leverkusen, Freiburg seized on a loose pass to muster a goal out of nothing with Vincenzo Grifo guiding into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
But Leverkusen re-established their two-goal cushion with Wirtz again assisting for Schick, who headed in to make it 3-1. Wirtz put yet another on a plate for Schick, who brought up his hat-trick, before adding his fourth – Leverkusen’s fifth to complete the rout.
Leverkusen’s Granit Xhaka praised the understanding between Schick and Wirtz. “We are very happy to have these two players. Patrick knows exactly where the goal is. They communicate very well and understand each other very well,” said Xhaka.
The victory takes the champions four points behind Bayern, who routed RB Leipzig 5-1 on Friday night.
Bizarre own goal
Earlier, Eintracht Frankfurt lost 3-1 to high-flying neighbours Mainz, who took the lead through a Kaua Santos own goal that has to go down as a contender for the most bizarre goal of the season.
Frankfurt’s reserve goalkeeper Santos tried to play out from the back, passing to the under-pressure Ellyes Skhiri, who sent it looping back over the head of his keeper, against the bar, and back into the net off the back off Santos
Mainz lost captain Nadiem Amiri to a straight red card in the 21st minute, with the midfielder dismissed for a lunge that caught Skhiri on the ankle. But Mainz’s numerical disadvantage was not evident when Paul Nebel’s long-distance strike took a deflection to deceive Santos.
Soon after the restart it was another Santos error which gifted Nebel his second and put Mainz in complete control. Danish defender Rasmus Kristensen scored a late consolation but it was too little late for Frankfurt who are sitting third, nine points behind Bayern and five behind Leverkusen.
Mainz, who beat Bayern Munich last weekend and Borussia Dortmund last month, have won five of their last six games. Stuttgart’s recent renaissance ended with a 1-0 loss to St Pauli, who pulled off their third away victory of the season with Johannes Eggestein scoring the only goal in the 21st minute.
St Pauli held on for a vital win that sends them up to 14th and ends Stuttgart’s five-game unbeaten run in all competitions.
