What the papers say: Havertz' big gesture

"Bayer climb up to fifth in the table after the sixth win in succession against Düsseldorf and are now only two points behind the Champions League positions," reports the Süddeutsche Zeitung. "The goals for the, up to now poor at home, Werkself were scored by the player with the most improved form in the first two games of the second half of the season, Kai Havertz (40'), plus Lars Bender (79') and Lucas Alario (89') from the penalty spot."

Missed chances prevent clearer result

The kicker analyses the approach of the two teams to the game on Sunday night as follows: "As expected, the Werkself had a lot of possession against a compact Düsseldorf team that closed down space in midfield with three men and look to play on the break. (…) Leverkusen produced controlled build-up play with lots of switching positions in midfield."

That is how Bayer 04 took the lead. "From the left channel, Bellarabi put a right-foot cross into the six-yard box where Havertz did not really need to jump to score with his head to make it 1-0," was the assessment of the situation by the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. Albeit, the newspaper added: "Bayer 04 should have quickly extended the lead after half-time."

In keeping with that analysis, the headline of the match report in the Express reads "Bayer win with chances galore" and they quote the captain and goalscorer Lars Bender: "With all the chances we missed, a game like that can end with a different result." Nevertheless, reports the Express, Bayer 04 "kept their cool heads and moved up to fifth in the Bundesliga table with a deserved 3-0 win."

Praise for Lars Bender - Havertz shows "his quality as a team player"

And that was also due to Lars Bender. "He won the game with the second goal on 79 minutes from a Demirbay corner," declares the Rheinische Post and looks back into the archives: "It was the first goal for the 30-year-old since 30 October 2018." Apart from the goal, there was positive criticism for the captain. "As the action on the pitch increasingly took place between the penalty areas, he again and again endeavoured to get on the front foot.", was the assessment of the paper. "The captain was also on the spot with challenges when it was required."

Reporters also praised Kai Havertz – and not just because of his impressive performance including the opening goal. "Impressive gesture – Havertz gifts penalty to Alario", was the headline in the BILD above: "Kai Havertz is not only back on track to top form. He hasn't only scored his second goal in the second half of the season. Yesterday, he showed his qualities as a team player." The background was the taking the penalty to make it 3-0. "On 89 minutes, Havertz gifted the penalty to Argentinian substitute Lucas Alario. Havertz is usually the first choice," reported the tabloid and quotes head coach Peter Bosz as saying: "That was generous."