Bayer Leverkusen won a fiery Rhine derby 2-1 at 1. FC Köln on Sunday, as Aleix García's stunning early free kick and Patrik Schick's late winner settled a contest that produced 11 yellow cards at the RheinEnergieStadion.
Leverkusen struck first and struck beautifully. With only seven minutes played, Aleix García curled a precision free kick from around 20 metres into the top corner, silencing the home crowd and giving the visitors a lead they protected for most of a bruising afternoon, as the official Bundesliga match report detailed.
A derby played on the edge
This was no ordinary away win. The Rhine derby crackled from the first whistle, with 11 yellow cards shown — six of them to Köln players — as tackles flew in and tempers simmered on both benches. Köln, roared on by a hostile home crowd, refused to let Leverkusen settle, pressing high and turning the game into a scrap.
Patrik Schick was at the centre of everything Leverkusen did well. The Czech striker was denied by Marvin Schwäbe early on and again after the interval, and he even had a goal ruled out for handball in the closing stages. Lesser forwards would have let the afternoon drift away. Schick simply kept going.
Schick makes history at the death
His moment arrived five minutes from time. Holding off Joël Schmied inside the penalty area, Schick showed superb composure to fire into the far corner from Ibrahim Maza's pass and make it 2-0. It was his eighth Bundesliga goal in nine matchdays, equalling the club record for this stage of a season — a mark set by Patrick Helmes in 2008/09 and matched by Schick himself in 2021/22, as bundesliga.com's record report confirmed. The 30-year-old now sits on 98 Bundesliga goals, closing in on a century.
Köln refused to die quietly. In the second minute of stoppage time, Malek El Mala crossed from the right and his brother Saïd El Mala met it first time to beat Mark Flekken and halve the deficit. It sparked a frantic finish, but Leverkusen held on for a sixth successive Bundesliga victory over their Rhine rivals.
"This is the most important game for the fans, we didn't want to disappoint them again," Schick said afterwards. "In a short time we lost three games, so we wanted to pay them back for their support, and today we showed a serious performance."
So what does it mean?
The win lifts Leverkusen to fifth in the Bundesliga on 16 points, back on track after a run of three defeats and firmly in the European fight behind the pace set by Harry Kane's Bayern — the England captain made Bundesliga history of his own at Mainz on Saturday. For Köln, the picture darkens: they sit 15th on nine points, just one point above the relegation play-off place, and a derby defeat at home will sting for weeks.
Beyond the Final Whistle: Derby wins are not always pretty, and this one was a street fight — but Leverkusen showed the steel that has been missing in recent weeks. García's free kick was pure class, Schick is in the form of his life, and a sixth straight win over Köln keeps the bragging rights firmly black and red. Köln fought to the last second, yet fight alone will not keep them up.
Was Schick's late winner the moment Leverkusen's season turned? Let us know in the comments!
