Cologne 1-2 Leverkusen — Schick Brace Lifts Die Werkself to Fifth in Bundesliga

Patrik Schick brace fires Leverkusen past Cologne

Cologne hit the woodwork twice through El Mala but lost 2-1 to Leverkusen. Patrik Schick scored a penalty and a tap-in before Tapsoba’s goalline clearance secured all three points for Die Werkself.

The win sends Leverkusen into the Bundesliga top five...

A Patrik Schick brace powered Bayer Leverkusen to a 2-1 derby win at Cologne, with a fifth straight unbeaten visit to the RheinEnergieStadion lifting Die Werkself into the Bundesliga’s top five.

Perhaps still reeling from their midweek DFB-Pokal semi-final defeat to Bayern Munich, Leverkusen started sloppily and were lucky not to concede several times inside the opening 10 minutes.

 

Said El Mala and Jakub Kaminski both fired narrowly wide after catching Die Werkself in possession in their own half, before El Mala forced Janis Blaswich into a save with a curling effort headed for the far corner.

  

Cologne were then sloppy at the back when Eric Martel’s square pass was cut out by Schick, but the Czech international’s strike came back off the post.

 

Blaswich was soon called on again to deny both El Mala and Martel, before another slack backpass let El Mala steal in and round Blaswich. With the goal gaping, the Cologne forward could only hit the post from a tight angle.

Those misses proved costly before the break when Martel was perhaps harshly penalised for handball just inside the Cologne area, letting Leverkusen take the lead from the spot.

  

Schick stepped up and beat Marvin Schwabe despite the keeper getting a hand to it - the striker’s sixth goal in eight games against Die Geißbocke.

 

It was a cruel blow for a Cologne side that had been on top for large parts of the first half, but wastefulness continued to undermine them after the restart.

Another promising move saw Linton Maina slip El Mala in inside the area, but Blaswich again stood tall to deny the young German and kick-started a counter that saw the visitors double their lead.

 

Aleix Garcia released Nathan Tella down the left, and his cross was stabbed home at the back post by Schick for his sixth goal in five Bundesliga appearances.

DERBYSIEGER! DERBYSIEGER! HEY! HEY! 🖤❤️

90+6' | 1-2 | #KOEB04 pic.twitter.com/Urt956CWFP

— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) April 25, 2026

It looked a long way back for Cologne from there, but substitute Luca Waldschmidt eased the task when he slotted home to cut the deficit after Leverkusen failed to deal with El Mala’s dribble.

Despite the lifted atmosphere inside the ground, the hosts failed to create enough quality chances to snatch a late equaliser. Edmond Tapsoba’s late goalline clearance preserved Leverkusen’s win, stretching their unbeaten Bundesliga run on the road to five.

Cologne’s first loss under Rene Wagner may not prove too costly, though. They stay five points clear of the bottom three despite an eighth defeat in 11 league meetings with Leverkusen.