Holstein Kiel vs Bayer Leverkusen Player Ratings – a comfortable win for Leverkusen thanks to Adli puts them close to Bayern

Bayer Leverkusen continued their unbeaten run in the league after a fantastic win away from home. This puts Leverkusen close to Bayern, with only a five point gap between them albeit playing a game extra. It looks all set for Holstein Kiel to relegate from the Bundesliga, as they are currently last in the league and do not look in any shape or form to get out of the relegation zone.

It was Leverkusen as expected who started off strong, creating some deadly chances from corner routines but were saved. It did not matter as Kiel conceded an early goal after an excellent close control of the ball from Adli in the box to cross it to Schick who scored via a fantastic volley.

The bad quality of the pitch hindered the ability of Bayer Leverkusen to move the ball around like they usually do, yet they continued to threaten the hosts. Unfortunately, they struggled to finish their chances and while it looked like the first half was going to end with only a single goal for the visitors, Wirtz and Adli combined excellently to score the second one.

Leverkusen continued to dominate the second half too, with the play completely happening in the half of the hosts. But there was not a lot of action and the game progressed tepidly. While both sides made changes to make things happen, it did not add a lot and Leverkusen looked comfortable in sealing the result.

Here are the player ratings for Holstein Kiel vs Bayer Leverkusen.

Holstein Kiel Player Ratings

GK- Timon Weiner – 6.5/10

He did better than the scoreline suggests, made some fantastic saves and kept the game competitive for a long part.

LWB – Dominik Javorcek – 5.5/10

His defensive game looked decent but he was awful with his crosses.

CB- Marco Komenda – 5.5/10

He did his best to stop Jeremie Frimpong from attacking, but other than that he was alright.

CB- Marko Ivezic – 6.5/10

He used his physicality at times to defend, making it hard. He was the best defender for the hosts tonight.

CB- David Zec – 5/10

He cut off some passing lanes cleverly with his timely interceptions, but got booked in the first half itself. He made an error that led to a goal for Bayer Leverkusen.

RWB- Lasse Rosenboom – 5/10

He struggled to keep up with the attackers on the wide flank, which allowed Grimaldo to roam freely.

CM- Nicolai Remberg – 5.5/10

He was almost anonymous today, failing to make any role to the team’s success for the day.

CM- Armin Gigovic – 6/10

His through pass to Knudsen in the first half was the only goal-scoring chance the team created.

CM – Magnus Knudsen – 6.5/10

While a clumsy tackle on Florian Wirtz got him into the books of the referee, he took some risks while attacking and tried to make things happen.

ST- Phil Harres – 4.5/10

The lack of service for the strikers was evident as his impact on the attacking side was virtually non existent.

ST- Shuto Machino – 5/10

The biggest highlight for him today was a defensive contribution with a vital block and clearance with his head to deny a goal for the visitors.

SUB- Lewis Holtby- 6/10

The experienced midfielder was put in to make a difference and he was solid defensively.

SUB- Jann-Fiete Arp- 5/10

He was added for some firepower at top, but did not really do a lot.

SUB- Timo Becker – 5.5/10

He came in as one of the centrebacks was on a booking.

SUB- Andu Yobel Kelati – 5/10

The attacking midfielder was brought in late in the game to make things happen, but was not able to do it.

SUB- Max Geschwill – 5/10

The young centreback did not even enough touches to make anything happen.

Manager- Marcel Rapp – 5.5/10

Despite playing at home, his team did not even try to establish any sort of dominance at any stage of the match. The score was expected but some attacking intent would have been nice.

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Bayer Leverkusen Player Ratings

GK- Matej Kovar – 6.5/10

He did not have anything to do, but he did a good job throwing himself by charging forward to make a proactive save.

LWB- Alex Grimaldo – 7.5/10

An excellent attacking display as he was creating some excellent chances, especially via set pieces.

CB- Jonathan Tah – 7/10

A dominant performance defensively and almost scored via a volley very early in the game.

CB- Edmond Tapsoba – 6.5/10

He was conservative in possession, passing the ball around but looked comfortable throughout.

CB- Piero Hincapie – 6.5/10

He was often recycling the ball around to retain possession and could have been on the scoresheet, but missed a header from a set-piece routine.

RWB- Jeremie Frimpong- 6/10

While he was rapid on the right flank, contributing defensively whenever needed, his attacking impact was limited.

CM- Granit Xhaka – 7/10

He took part of some defensive set-piece routines and played a big role in establishing the midfield dominance, as his passing was spot on.

CM- Robert Andrich – 7/10

He did well to win the ball back whenever needed and recycle the possession. His defensive duties were also on point.

CAM – Florian Wirtz – 7.5/10

He was drifting out wide left to create chances, showed some skills and ultimately ended up with an assist.

ST- Patrick Schick – 7.5/10

The Czech striker continued his excellent season and added another goal to his tally with an excellent volley.

ST- Amine Adli – 8.5/10

He was good with the ball at his feet, evident with his work to beat the defenders and assist Schick for the opener and combining well with Wirtz to score one for himself.

SUB- Emiliano Buendia – 6/10

He was not involved in the game as much as he would have expected.

SUB- Nordi Mukiele – NA

The defender added some fresh legs and gave rest to the starters.

SUB- Victor Boniface – NA

He almost scored within moments coming on the pitch but the game was comfortably in their favour.

Manager- Xabi Alonso – 8/10

A good result for his side, as his team looked comfortable in all phases of play for the whole match. The finishing could have been a bit better as they could have scored a lot more than two.

The Sportsdunia Player of the Match goes to Bayer Leverkusen’s Amine Adli.

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