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Kramaric inspires Hoffenheim to convincing Leverkusen win
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- Kramaric inspires Hoffenheim to convincing Leverkusen win
Kramaric inspires Hoffenheim to convincing Leverkusen win
After both sides picked up three points in the Europa League on Thursday, Hoffenheim and Bayer Leverkusen looked set to play out a cracker at the SNP Arena after a frantic opening period.
With the clock ticking just over the one-minute mark, Adam Hlozek provided the first effort of the match, as he headed over from a Vladimir Coufal cross, before the visitors matched that tempo.
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Winning a corner at the other end, Patrik Schick met an inswinger from Aleix Garcia, though the forward was unable to find the target.
And just over a minute later, the Czech theme to the afternoon continued, with Hlozek at the heart of proceedings again, firing over into the travelling Leverkusen fans after Ozan Kabak found the forward in space at the top of the box.
With it looking a matter of time before either side found the net, Nathan Tella would fire a matter of inches wide on the half-volley from the edge of the box, meaning that both teams saw out the opening seven minutes with two efforts apiece.
The match would slow down ever so slightly, with Sinsheim having to wait a long five minutes before the next meaningful shot and first save of the match, when Fisnik Asllani powered an effort towards goal after a lovely link-up with Alexander Prass - comfortably saved by Mark Flekken between the sticks.
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Finally, the pace slowed as the rain continued to pour, before Hlozek hit the post in the 38th minute, laid off by Wouter Burger after the Dutchman dispossessed Garcia in the middle of the park, while Hoffenheim had taken control of the afternoon by this point.
After the frantic opening, Carles Martinez would see his side's counter-attack threat nullified in the 41st minute, when Malik Tilman replaced Moussa Diaby, with the latter clutching his hamstring as he limped off.
The pair would go in at half-time with the scores somehow level, though it would be the hosts with the most confidence following a strong showing and Diaby's withdrawal minutes before the pause.
Ibrahim Maza, who had had an usually quiet game to that point, began to drift out to the left to test Coufal in the early stages of the second half, and while the Czech fullback had his number at times, Leverkusen's starlet was beginning to grow into the encounter.
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However, the visitors would struggle to stamp their authority on the clash, and this would come back to bite them in the 78th minute when a penalty was awarded following a VAR check, after Edmond Tapsoba clattered through the back of Asllani inside the box, giving Hoffenheim a huge chance to open the scoring.
And as he so often does, Kraichgau icon Andrej Kramaric found the net from the spot, with Flekken's touch not enough to keep out the Croatian's dink down the middle.
Leverkusen showed an instant sign of waking up, with Maza finding space inside the box, though the Algerian couldn't keep his volley down as he fired well over the bar.
After so long as second best, Leverkusen finally held the ball for meaningful spells when behind.
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However, they would be undone for the second time in the match as the clock hit 89 minutes - Prass sent through on goal by Kramaric to seal the deal.
At the same time, Facundo Medina received treatment after a collision with Max Moerstedt, with the pair clashing heads in the build-up to the goal.
Five extra minutes would be played with 10 vs 10, after Prass was sent off for a second yellow, after the wideman removed his shirt in celebration, while Martinez was unable to replace Medina after making all of his substitutions.
During that period, the Sinsheim side would add another to their account, with an effort from Kramaric looping onto the bar, before dropping right into the path of Moerstedt, who more than made an impact following his introduction.
Seeing out the win, Hoffenheim climb to 10th in the league, as Christian Ilzer's side prepare for their DFB-Pokal clash against Holstein Kiel on Wednesday.
