Bayer Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick scored in his sixth match of the Bundesliga season to hand SC Freiburg a 2-1 defeat on Saturday, ending the visitors’ unbeaten run and knocking them off the top of the table. Schick converted from close range in the 76th minute at the sold-out Leverkusen stadium, drawing 30,210 spectators as the home side secured three points to draw level with Freiburg on points in fourth place.
Schick Sets New Leverkusen Benchmark
With his decisive strike in the 76th minute, Schick became the first Bayer Leverkusen player to score in each of the opening six matches of a Bundesliga campaign. The Czech forward surpassed the previous club marks held by Dimitar Berbatow from the 2005-06 season and Stefan Kießling from the 2009-10 term.
League-wide, only two players have achieved longer scoring streaks at the start of a German top-flight season: Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski netted in each of the first 11 matchdays in 2019-20, while Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored in the first eight games of 2015-16.
I am very happy for this, but today the victory was important,
Schick said after the match. We played against a top team today. They are one of the best in terms of intensity.
Early Goals Set Level Terms in Leverkusen
Following midweek international fixtures, both sides traded early blows in the first half. Freiburg struck first in the 14th minute when Philipp Treu sent Jan-Niklas Beste into space down the right flank. Beste cut the ball back to the far post, where Derry Scherhant finished into an open net.
Leverkusen responded five minutes later. Following a mix-up between Freiburg defenders Matthias Ginter and Igor Makengo, Moussa Diaby poked the ball loose and squared it inside the penalty area. Schick dummied the pass with a backheel into the path of Ibrahim Maza, who drove home with the outside of his boot to equalize in the 19th minute.
The longer we play together, the better it works,
Maza said of his partnership with Schick, whom he set up for the winning goal following an impressive individual run. Schicki is where he needs to be. He smelled it.
Standings Shift at the Summit
Freiburg’s first loss of the domestic season cost them the Bundesliga summit. With the Breisgau club dropping points on the road, both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund leapfrogged them in the league table.
The match was briefly interrupted three minutes in when tennis balls were thrown onto the pitch from the away section in protest against material bans inside the stadium, which target items including supporter flags. Julian Schuster walked over to the away block to voice his displeasure before the referee restarted play after a five-minute delay with Jürgen Klopp watching from the stands.
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