What the papers say: 'Sure and steady advance'

The Bild am Sonntag focuses on the goalscorer: "Volland? Well good! Leverkusen striker Kevin Volland  scores the goal in the 1-0 win in Frankfurt to put the Werkself back in the European spots. Impressive: Volland has scored in four of the last  five games and has clocked up eight so far this season. That means he has already scored two more goals than in the whole of the last campaign. Ice cold the way Volland netted the winner following a Leverkusen counter-attack and a Mehmedi cross on 76 minutes. Leverkusen could have been two goals up with Alario twice hitting the post. But Bayer found a second wind and they have now scored eleven of the last twelve goals in the second half."

Under the headline 'Volland strike makes Völler happy', the Express reports : "Bayer 04 continue their chase to catch up in the Bundesliga. On the back of eight games unbeaten, the Werkself win 1-0 at Eintracht Frankfurt to inflict their first defeat in six matches. The man of the match was again Kevin Volland with his eighth goal of the season taking Leverkusen up to sixth place for the time being. Volland, again and again Volland. At the moment, the Bayer striker is scoring when he wants. The striker has been involved in a goal  in each of the last five Bundesliga fixtures (four goals, one assist). With eight goals (third in the current top scorers list) he has scored more goals after thirteen matches than he did in the whole of last season (six goals in 23 games)."

 'Sure and steady advance' - the Kölner Stadt Anzeiger chose this headline for their report that named Jonathan Tah as the man of the match: "The young central defender doesn't like being called the boss at the back but how else can you describe him after such an excellent performance in the Leverkusen defence? He won almost all the challenges against Frankfurt, was always in the right place, radiated calm and authority and stood out with his accuracy in build-ups." The verdict of the Kölner Stadt Anzeiger: "The Werkself are continually improving as a unit, and appear to have found confidence and consistency that was missing a few months ago and also at the start of the current season. That will not protect them from one or two setbacks that may still come. But Bayer demonstrate stability at the moment and it is no coincidence they are now unbeaten in eight games stability."

The Frankfurter Rundschau concludes: "Eintracht Frankfurt could be happy they were not 3-0 down after 45 minutes: Lucas Alario hit the post twice, once with a header (30'), once with his right foot (32') with Julian Brandt hitting  the ball over the bar when unmarked on the half-hour mark. Eintracht were unable to get going in the first half."

For the Welt am Sonntag the match at the Commerzbank Arena was "the clash of unrecognised top teams:  Frankfurt unbeaten in six games, and the visitors from Leverkusen unbeaten in seven. And both clubs, after an average start to the season, are in the upper third of the table. Bayer 04 secured a 1-0 victory at Eintracht with a committed performance. The team coached by Heiko Herrlich demonstrated their desire to secure one of the European qualification places."

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung attributes an 'elegant victory' to Bayer 04: "Leverkusen could easily have made it simpler for themselves if they'd taken their chances at the end of the first half. After Alario hit the post twice for Bayer, Eintracht fought their way back into the game and could have taken the lead. At the end of the day, the more accomplished team beat the more aggressive side."