Bayer Leverkusen 5-2 Heidenheim Player Ratings: Schick’s hat-trick inspires Leverkusen’s incredible comeback

Bayer Leverkusen staged a brilliant comeback to dismantle Heidenheim 5-2 in Saturday’s Bundesliga clash. Leverkusen were duly punished for their defensive errors at the start of the game, with Heidenheim going 2-0 up inside 21 minutes. However, the reigning German champions retaliated with goals from Exequiel Palacios and Patrik Schick to level the score before halftime, pouncing on the visitors’ defensive lapses. Shick’s equaliser was of top quality as he made a brilliant first touch off Palacios’ pass before slotting past Kevin Muller with great composure.

Leverkusen turned the game on its head after Schick buried home Florian Wirtz’s cross before scoring a perfect header for his hat-trick. Granit Xhaka put the game to bed by scoring a stunning curler. The victory has helped Die Werkself move to the fourth position in the league table ahead of Borussia Dortmund.

Bayer Leverkusen Player Ratings vs Heidenheim

Goalkeeper

Lukas Hradecky: 4/10 – Was let down by a leaky defence for Heidenheim’s two goals

Defenders

Piero Hincapie: 5/10 – Solely at fault for Heidenheim’s opener after getting robbed of the possession just outside the penalty box before Pieringer set up Dorsch.

Jonathan Tah: 6/10 – Made a clumsy effort by allowing Honsak to breach the defence for Heidenheim’s second goal. However, the defensive colossus’ passing was immaculate, delivering 20 balls into the final third

Edmond Tapsoba: 7/10 -Tapsoba’s ball progression was exquisite and his front-foot defending also stood out. Completed 109 passes with an accuracy of 97%

Midfielders

Jeremie Frimpong: 5/10 – Involved in Palacios’ goal but was hauled off before halftime with an injury

Exequeil Palacios: 8/10 – A stunning performance from the Argentine midfielder, whose confidence level must be sky-high. Scored a stunning snapshot for Leverkusen’s 1st and set up Shick with a delicious through-ball for the equaliser.

Granit Xhaka: 8/10 – Was partly responsible for Leverkusen’s second but made amends by setting up Palacios’ strike. Scored a scorcher for the winning goal

Aleix Garcia: 5/10 – Playing as an advanced midfielder, the former Girona couldn’t make a big impact.

Alex Grimaldo: 5/10 – His crossing wasn’t very effective but delivered 7 balls into the final third

Attackers

Florian Wirtz: 8/10 – Once again turned out to be Leverkusen’s creator-in-chief. Must have played countless through-balls and capped off a great performance with a brilliant assist to Shick for his hat-trick.

Patrick Shick: 9/10 – Scored a perfect hat trick with his right foot, left and a header. Produced a silky first touch before chipping past Muller for the first goal and his killer instincts in the box were on display for the rest of his goal. His cheeky back-heels and link-up play were also top-notch.

Substitutes

Nathan Tella: 6/10 – Made a terrific impact after throwing his hat in Leverkusen’s routing of Heidenheim. Grabbed an assist after setting up Xhaka’s strike

Arthur: 5/10 – Set up Schick’s header with a great cross.

Robert Andrich: N/A

Martin Terrier: N/A

Manager

Xabi Alonso: 7/10 Leverkusen’s defensive frailties were blatant at the start of the game but their attacking prowess overwhelmed it. Alonso’s persistence in high-line and vertical style of play mauled the visitors.

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Heidenheim Player Ratings vs Bayer Leverkusen

Goalkeeper

Kevin Muller: 3/10 – Should have done better against Palacios’ strike but had no answer against Schick’s two brilliant strikes

Defenders

Jonas Fohrenbach: 5/10 – Fohrenbach did a decent job dealing with the threat of Frimpong in the first half

Benedikt Gimber: 4/10 – Made no efforts to stop Palacios from scoring Leverkusen’s 1st.

Patrick Mainka: 4/10 – Outpowered by Schick from close range for Leverkusen’s third goal and was caught on the blind side by the Czech striker for his hat-trick

Omar Traore: 5/10 – Made 5 recoveries but offered nothing on the offensive end.

Midfielders

Niklas Dorsch: 6/10 – Was at the heart of Hedeinheim’s attack in the first half, scoring an easy finish past Hradecky and setting up Honsak

Lennard Maloney: 4/10 – Defensively better, but his passing was a let-down.

Jan Schoppner: 3/10 – One of the weak links in Heidenheim’s defence, literally ball-watching for Shcick’s first. Also failed to deal with Wirtz’s cross for the Leverkusen striker’s second goal

Attackers

Adrian Beck: 4/10 – Was completely non-existent throughout the game, registering zero shots on target and zero touches in the penalty box.

Mathias Honsak: 6/10 – Sliced through Leverkusen’s defence like a hot knife through butter for a sublime finish.

Marvin Pieringer: 6/10 – Limped off with a leg injury before the half-hour mark. Played a big part in the opener after winning the ball and then setting up Dorsch.

Substitutes

Paul Wanner: 5/10 – Provided a brilliant through-ball for Conte, who botched his effort.

Leo Scienza: N/A

Luca Kerber: N/A

Sirlord Conteh: N/A

Mikkel Kaufmann: N/A

Manager

Frank Schmidt: 4/10 – Schmidt’s men made a dream start to the game by disrupting Leverkusen’s build-up play with their pressing but that was soon dissolved into oblivion after the visitors started their onslaught.

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