The Black-and-Reds took 24 players to Essen for their opening friendly. In the absence of the EURO and Copa América internationals, head coach Xabi Alonso supplemented his squad with a number of young players. Lukas Hradecky lined up in goal, behind Odilon Kossounou, Jonas Hofmann, Edmond Tapsoba, Arthur, Nathan Tella, Amine Adli, Victor Boniface as well as the three new signings Martin Terrier, Aleix Garcia and Jeanuël Belocian.
The roughly 2,000 travelling Bayer 04 supporters witnessed a dominant opening period from their team, who wore the new away kit for the first time. The Black-and-Reds began with a lot of possession and high pressing, regularly winning the ball. The first promising attacking action happened in the ninth minute, when Boniface played the ball through to Arthur and he delivered it into the middle to Adli, who flicked it just wide. At the other end, the home side, who became braver from the middle of the first half, had one notable opportunity when striker Ramien Safi fired over from around 15 metres. But it was the Werkself who netted the first goal of the game on 44 minutes: Garcia attempted a ball over the top of the RWE defence, which Tobias Kraulich inadvertently flicked on to Tella, who slotted in the opener.
Bayer 04 continued to push for more goals in the second period. Tella brought down a cross-field pass from Arthur and went for goal from a tight angle, but his attempt landed just wide of the target. A few minutes later, Adli was denied by Essen goalkeeper Jakob Golz. His opposite number Matej Kovar, who came on at the break, then had his gloves warmed by an effort from Essen's Lucas Brumme. In addition to the Czech keeper, Alonso brought more fresh legs onto the field, including Patrik Schick as well as a number of youngsters.
Because of the number of substitutions, the Werkself had to find their rhythm again but eventually Schick netted the second goal of the game just minutes after his introduction, the striker finding the right corner with a glancing header from Garcia's deep cross. Kovac then saved a shot from Nils Kaiser in the 88th minute, but a minute later the third-tier hosts did manage to pull a goal back, Leonardo Vonic reducing the deficit after a one-two with Dion Berisha. That was shortly followed by the final whistle as the Werkself comfortably won their first friendly of the current pre-season.
For the Werkself, it's now off to the training camp in Donaueschingen in the Black Forest from this Sunday, 28 July, to Friday 2 August. They will stay at the hotel ‘Der Öschberghof’ and at the training centre of the local club SV Aasen. At the end of the training camp, the Bayer 04 squad will travel directly from Donaueschingen to France, where on Saturday 3 August at 16:00 CEST, they'll play a friendly at RC Lens.
Match stats:
Rot-Weiss Essen: Golz - Rios Alonso, Kraulich (Pechaty 70'), Brumme (Berisha 79'), Schultz, Celebi (Eisfeld 70') - Kaparos (Kourouma 70'), Safi (Kaiser 79'), Voufack (Gedikli 90'+1) - Müsel (Swajkowski 79'), Vonic
Bayer 04: Hradecky (Kovar 46') – Kossounou (Raterink 72'), Tapsoba (Natali 72'), Belocian (Hawighorst 72')– Tella (Culbreath 63'), Garcia (N. Mensah 72'), Hofmann (Buono 64'), Arthur (Owen 63') – Adli (J. Mensah 64'), Boniface (Schick 64'), Terrier (Hlozek 64')
Goals: 0-1 Tella (44'), 0-2 Schick (71'), 1-2 Vonic (89')
Referee: Thibaut Scheer (Essen)
Attendance: 10,000 at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße
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