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[Home Deluxe Arena, Paderborn | 19/01/2020 | Game week 18 | Time: 17:10 | Minute: 20']
Following Hrádecký's brilliant save, things calmed down a little as both teams battled for possession. Paderborn were the team on the back foot, but perhaps due to their precarious league position or the fact that they were playing at home, their defensive intensity was top-notch. Despite Leverkusen holding the lion's share of possession, they struggled to break through the opposing goal.
In the 20th minute, Dräger found himself turned into a pretzel by Diaby, who hit him with a back-and-forth feint at the left edge of the box. Using the defender's sudden loss of composure, he nudged the ball down the line and immediately exploded after it. The ball remained glued to his feet as he broke into the box with speed, causing the Paderborn defence to collapse on him.
Kilian left Volland's to his defensive partner as goalkeeper Zingerle closed down the near post. Despite there being better options, the lack of clear passing lanes left him with no choice but to pull the trigger himself, not like he would have it any other way. "DIABY!" Derek Rae's cry echoed just as the Frenchman struck with his left foot, low and vicious from a tight angle, aiming for that gap between Zingerle and the post.
The keeper fell backwards, his foot striking out, awkwardly deflecting the shot with his thigh, sending it out for a corner. The roar of the home fans drowned out the groans of the away fans as they celebrated their keeper's heroics. "Brave attempt from the French winger, but Zingerle rose to the challenge, keeping his team on level footing." Steward Robson exclaimed as the Leverkusen players set up for the corner.
Havertz was the one to execute the set piece, swinging in a pacy cross aimed for Tah's head. The German defender rose above the pack, his head firmly connecting with the ball, but was unable to bring it down, sending it flying into the stands. After giving the home fans another bout of heart palpitations, the home team quickly regrouped for the goal kick.
Almost conceding must have lit a fire in the Paderborn side, as they began playing more aggressively. Like hungry wolves, they hunted down the red lions, forcing them to play wide. The moment they managed to regain possession of the ball, they did not linger to attempt a slow build-up but instead surged on all fronts.
A couple of times, they managed to threaten the Leverkusen goal, but it was in the 25th minute that their first real chance arose. Diaby, after managing to lose his marker, exploded up the wing ready to take on Paderborn's right back Dräger. However, the moment he crossed the final third, he found himself surrounded by bodies of Paderborn defenders.
He tried to turn away and find a friendly pair of feet, but he turned right into a vicious slide tackle by Gjasul. Diaby rolled in protest, but the referee motioned for play to continue. Drägerpicked up the loose ball and sent a weighted pass up the flank, sending Pröger on a run.
The Paderborn Right winger managed to beat Sinkgraven in the foot race, latching onto the ball and immediately breaking into the box at the byline. Watching the Leverkusen keeper block the front post and Tah converge on him, he sent a cut-back to the top of the box. "Vasiliadis with a monstrous strike!" Derek exclaimed as the home fans jumped to their feet in anticipation.
Vasiliadis, who had been making a gradual run up the middle lane the moment the counter started, found himself unmarked the moment he slipped away from Demirbay's marking. He met the ball cleanly, striking it with the laces of his right boot. The shot tore through the air like a javelin—low, skipping just above the turf and curling ever so slightly toward the top-left corner.
Hrádecký, who was at the near post, just moments ago, did not even have the time to think, let alone react. Lady luck was on his side, though as a second late, a loud THWACK resounded as the shot bounced off the bar. The ball ricocheted with a violent clang off the underside of the crossbar and bounced downward, just outside the goal line, before being hacked clear by Lars Bender with a violent half-volley.
A collective gasp surged through the stadium, followed by a loud murmur from the Paderborn fans, many of whom had already thrown their hands in the air in celebration. "Was that in?! Surely not—play continues!" shouted Derek Rae as replays started to queue on screens around the stadium. There was no goal-line technology in the minds of the spectators, only suspense.
However, the replay clearly showed the ball bouncing outside of the lines despite the loyal's protests. The home side managed to retain possession of the ball, but with Leverkusen clearly rattled by the narrow escape, they slowed the tempo. Their formation became narrower, dropping deeper, putting an extra emphasis on defence first.
Baumgartlinger and Demirbay began dropping deeper to receive the ball, trying to regain control and take the sting out of the game. But Paderborn were now emboldened, their midfield pressing higher, trying to force mistakes. Peter Bosz barked from the sideline, his voice hoarse as he nitpicked on everything his team did wrong.
He was calling for composure, but his animated gestures suggested anything but. Every misplaced pass, every lost duel seemed to draw a frustrated wave of his arms toward the pitch. Even when they performed a good tackle, he would call for them to keep playing and inject more energy into their gameplay. The Dutch coach knew his team was better than this, but he needed them to deliver on that belief.
The intensity of Paderborn's pressing began to pay dividends around the half-hour mark. Baumgartlinger, receiving a pass from Tah under pressure, took one touch too many as he looked for where to offload the hot potatoes. Antwi-Adjei hunted him down like a hungry wolf chasing him down once he began to panic and proceeded to use his body to disposes the Austrian, immediately laying the ball off to Vasiliadis.
The Greek midfielder didn't hesitate, spraying a diagonal ball out to the right flank where Pröger was already making his run. Sinkgraven caught between closing down the pass and tracking the runner, chose poorly, stepping up to steal the ball a split second too late as Pröger collected the ball in stride. "Paderborn breaks again! This is becoming a pattern now," Derek Rae's voice carried the building tension as the home side surged forward once more.
Pröger drove toward the byline, his pace eating up the ground as Tah Scrambled to close the angle whilst Sinkgraven scrambled to recover. Seeing this, Tah stood him up a couple of yards, doing textbook side steps, leaving no room for an easy breakthrough. However, just as Sinkgraven managed to recover, the German winger checked inside, then back out, leaving the Dutch left-back wrong-footed.
Swinging his foot, he delivered a slippery low cross into the six-yard box, managing to get the ball to skip past Tah's outstretched boot. Srbeny had been making a clever run, timing his dart toward the near post to perfection. Bender tried to battle it out with him for possession, but the Paderborn striker proved more determined.
Stretching his foot out, he managed to make contact with the incoming ball before Hrádecký, who was rushing out, could pounce. He managed to do just enough to redirect the ball between the gaps of the keeper's outstretched gloves and leg. A second later, the oh-so-sweet sound of the ball piercing the back of the net resounded as the more than 10,000 home fans jumped up in celebration.
[Paderborn 1:0 Leverkusen]
The Home Deluxe Arena erupted into absolute pandemonium as Srbeny raced off to the corner flag, his arms spread wide like an eagle soaring over the ecstatic home crowd. "What a moment for the home side!" Derek Rae bellowed over the deafening roar. "Paderborn have taken the lead against all odds, and the Home Deluxe Arena has gone absolutely mad!"
Steward Robson's analysis cut through the celebration: "It's been coming, Derek. The intensity of Paderborn's pressing has been relentless, and Leverkusen have looked increasingly uncomfortable under that pressure. Brilliant work from Pröger on the right flank, and Srbeny with the poacher's finish."
Peter Bosz stood motionless on the touchline, his hands on his hips, staring at the pitch with a mixture of disbelief and frustration. His animated gesturing had momentarily ceased as the reality of falling behind a relegation-threatened side sank in. A couple of yards away in the home coaching area, Steffen Baumgart was pumping his fists toward the crowd, happy that his gamble of high-intensity pressing had paid immediate dividends.