PLAYER RATINGS | Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 Borussia Mönchengladbach | OneFootball

After Bayern Munich’s 3-2 win against Wolfsburg, Bayer Leverkusen comprehensively beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1 on Saturday evening.

The first 45 was all Leverkusen, apart from an early effort from Rocco Reitz, the visitors were never able to trouble die Werkself in any way. For Leverkusen then it was all about just trying to open the scoring and it took them 30 minutes to finally see a breakthrough after having a handful of half chances. Gladbach tried to progress the ball up the field but were disposed which allowed Granit Xhaka to play in Florian Wirtz, who nutmegged Ko Itakura, before slotting past Mortiz Nicolas to make it 1-0 to Leverkusen.

Leverkusen would wait until the 60th minute in the second half to double their lead when a Julian Weigl handball handed them a penalty which Wirtz converted for his second of the game. Wirtz would then turn creator when he played through Patrik Schick to make it 3-0 for die Werkself and ended the game there. Gladbach would score a consolation in the 91st minute when Tim Kleindienst made it 3-1.

A very comprehensive win for Leverkusen as Gladbach did not trouble them one bit during the whole game, it was also a completely different performance from their midweek win against Mainz where they had to grind out the 1-0 win. It shows that Leverkusen are able to do what teams in the past (Borussia Dortmund) could not do and avoid tripping up on a game that would usually be difficult on paper. The win this evening also shows the team’s versatility and the early loss of Martin Terrier did not trouble them.

It was also the perfect way to answer Bayern’s win earlier on in the day and keep the distance between the two teams at four points. On top of this, Leverkusen, at their best, just seem to be a more visually appealing side than their title rivals and seem more adept at putting their opponents away.

After their performance last weekend against Bayern, Gladbach have regressed in the space of a week. They were thrashed by Wolfsburg 5-0, while today they were too tame. They never really had a lengthy spell of dominance and only looked like troubling Leverkusen late on, after they had scored a consolation. If Gladbach does not want to lose touch with the European places already, then things will need to change.

Bayer Leverkusen:

Lukas Hradecky (5), Arthur (6), Jonathan Tah (6), Edmond Tapsoba (6), Alejandro Grimaldo (6), Granit Xhaka (7), Robert Andrich (6), Nathan Tella (6) Florian Wirtz (8), Martin Terrier (-), Patrik Schick (6)

Others: Piero Hincapié (6), Jeremie Frimpong (5), Jonas Hofmann (-), Aleix Garcia (-), Exequiel Palacios (-)

Borussia Mönchengladbach:

Mortiz Nicolas (5), Stefan Lainer (5), Ko Itakura (5), Nico Elvedi (5), Lukas Ullrich (5), Julian Weigl (5), Philipp Sander (5), Rocco Reitz (5), Tomas Cvancara (4), Robin Hack (4), Tim Kleindienst (6)

Others: Alassane Plea (5), Kevin Stöger (5), Luca Netz (6), Fabio Chiardoia (-), Shio Fukuda (-)

GGFN Man of the Match: Florian Wirtz (8)

Leverkusen’s main man. When he is called upon he answers. Wirtz has been Leverkusen’s best player this season, but compared to last season (where he won Bundesliga Player of the Season) he has taken a huge leap. He can do it all, assist and score in any way whether that be creating his own opportunities, such as his nutmeg for the opener, or playing a threaded pass to his teammates. His partnership with Schick has blossomed in the recent weeks as they combined once again.

GGFN | Jack Meenan