Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 St. Pauli: Player ratings as Wirtz and Tah struck apiece to seal routine victory for Bundesliga champions

Bayer Leverkusen saw off St. Pauli 2-1 in the Bundesliga on Saturday. Florian Wirtz put Die Werkself in front after six minutes into the kick-off, before Jonathan Tah doubled their advantage another 15 minutes later. With a two goal-cushion, Xabi Alonso’s side took their feet off the pedal a bit in the second half, and Morgan Guilavogui pulled one back for the visitors in the 84th minute. They pushed for an equalizer late on, sending in three players at once in the penultimate minute of normal time, but came up short ultimately. Here are the player ratings:

Bayer Leverkusen Player Ratings vs St. Pauli

Goalkeeper

Lukas Hradecky – 7

Wasn’t tested enough but made three saves.

Defenders

Edmond Tapsoba – 6.5

Sloppy on the ball and not solid enough defensively.

Jonathan Tah – 8.5

Doubled Leverkusen’s advantage in the 21st minute.

Piero Hincapie – 8

Won six duels in the match and completed 93% of his passes.

Midfielders

Arthur – 5

Woefully poor in his duels.

Exequiel Palacios – 6.5

Some immaculate passing.

Granit Xhaka – 7.5

Bagged an assist and pulled the strings for his team as the deep-lying playmaker.

Aleix Garcia – 8

Excellent passing, accurate long balls, and full of creative flair.

Alejandro Grimaldo – 7

Laid a couple of inviting crosses for the forwards to latch onto.

Forwards

Nathan Tella – 5.5

Barely visible.

Florian Wirtz – 8.5

Fired Die Werkself in front after only six minutes into the kick-off.

Substitutes

Jeremie Frimpong – 7

Laid two key passes.

Jeanuel Belocian – 5.5

Struggled to get involved.

Martin Terrier – 6

Strong in the air.

Robert Andrich – N/A

Not enough time to make an impact.

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St. Pauli Player Ratings vs Bayer Leverkusen

Goalkeeper

Nikola Vasilj – 5.5

Didn’t make a single save in the game, and conceded twice too.

Defenders

Hauke Wahl – 7.5

Two clearances, two blocks and three tackles.

Eric Smith – 7

Played a key role in winning back possession.

David Nemeth – 6.5

Passed the ball around excellently.

Midfielders

Manolis Saliakas – 5

Struggled to win his duels and looked too sloppy on the ball too.

Jackson Irvine – 6

Came a cropper in his duels.

Carlo Boukhalfa – 6

Timed his tackles to perfection.

Philipp Treu – 7

Laid two key passes and three crosses.

Forwards

Morgan Guilavogui – 8

Pulled one back for St. Pauli in the dying embers.

Johannes Eggestein – 7

Both his attempts in the match were off-target.

Oladapo Afolayan – 8

Posed a big threat to Leverkusen with his prolific dribbling ability, completing six of his nine attempts; also won nine of his 14 attempted ground duels.

Substitutes

Danel Sinani – 7.5

Assisted Guilavogui for their consolation goal.

Erik Ahlstrand – N/A

On the fringes for most of the time, he was on the pitch for.

Adam Dzwigala – N/A

Came on in the penultimate minute of normal time as part of their triple substitution.

Lars Ritzka – N/A

Not enough time to make an impact.

Andreas Albers – N/A

Too late.

Manager

Alexander Blessin – 6.5

A good fight from his side.

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