Werder Bremen 0-3 Bayer Leverkusen: Alonso's men reclaim top spot with convincing win

Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen team gave their coach the perfect birthday present on Saturday, defeating Werder Bremen 3-0 to reclaim the Bundesliga lead.

Following Bayern Munich's one-point victory over Cologne on Friday evening, Leverkusen went into the game determined to reclaim first place.

After rounding the goalkeeper from Jonas Hofmann's pass, Victor Boniface had the ball in the net as early as the sixth minute, but it was ruled out for offside.

However, the visitors took the lead just moments later when Hofmann's left-wing cross caught Bremen defender Olivier Deman off guard, the ball bouncing off his standing leg and rolling into his own net.

After that, the game was largely evenly contested, with neither side coming close to extending their lead until just before halftime, when Hofmann released Piero Hincapie into the box, and his cut-back from the left was lashed into the net by Jeremie Frimpong.

The second half began with Bremen aware that they needed to get forward but wary of Leverkusen's pace and counter-attacking prowess.

The hosts did manage a sustained period of pressure, and they thought they had pulled a goal back when Marvin Ducksch stroked in from Romano Schmid's pass, but it was ruled out for offside in the build-up.

Any hopes of a comeback were dashed in the closing stages, when Alejandro Grimaldo collected a pass from Amine Adli before surging into the box and unleashing an unstoppable shot high into the net.

Adli had a goal disallowed for offside, and Bremen substitute Justin Njinmah rattled the crossbar late on, but the result was already decided by that point, with Leverkusen winning their 11th Bundesliga game of the season.

SportsLigue