21 September 2007, by Marco Pereira

Leverkusen too strong for Leiria

Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 Uniao de Leiria

Uniao de Leiria fell to a 3-1 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in their first-leg of their Uefa Cup match in Germany. A brace by Kiessling and a goal by Rolfes was replied to with a Joao Paulo goal to put Leverkusen in the driving seat for the return leg in two weeks’ time.

The result is not the only thing that made the headlines. Referee Vladimir Hrinak completely lost control of the match, issuing 9 cards, including reds to Gresko and Faria, not to mention ordering Leiria coach, Paulo Duarte, to the stands in the second half.

Leverkusen stormed out of the gates looking to unsettle their guests and score the game’s first goal early with waves of pressure.

The hard work paid off in the 18th minute when Kiessling scored the first of his two goals when he took advantage of some slack Leiria defending by left-footing the ball past Fernando. Two minutes later the home side almost doubled their lead as Gekas hit the Leiria crossbar and Friedrich was unable to convert the rebound.

Leiria shock home crowd

But in the 28th minute Leiria shocked their opponents by taking advantage of a poor clearance and drawing level as Joao Paulo made no mistake by taking an Alhandra pass in his stride and slipping the ball past the keeper to make it 1-1.

But the euphoria was short-lived as Leverkusen restored their lead two minutes later when Rolfes got his head to Gekas’ free kick and made it 2-1. Shortly afterwards Rolfes saw a header come back off the Leiria crossbar.

The second half was just as lively as the opening 45 minutes, but for all the wrong reasons. In the first six minutes, three yellows were issued, with more to follow. In the 59th minute Leiria coach Paulo Duarte was ordered to leave the pitch.

Leverkusen tried to take advantage of their rudderless opponents as Gekas forced Fernando into a good save and Friedrich headed a ball just over the Leiria net. From a dead ball situation in the 78th minute, Kiessling struck again as the striker did well to get in front of his marker and head past Fernando to make it 3-1.

The game became ugly from there as Gresko was shown a straight red card for a rash challenge on Sougou and Faria, a second half substitute, was shown a second yellow card for simulation and will also miss the return leg.

Demoralized at this point, Leiria were lucky not to concede a late fourth goal in injury time as both Kiessling and Barnetta missed chances by the smallest of margins.

Bayer Leverkusen:
Adler, Castro, Haggui, Friedrich, Gresko, Schneider (Barbarez, 56), Vidal, Rolfes, Barnetta, Kiessling, Gekas (Sarpei, 81)
Yellow Cards: Gresko (47), Vidal (55)
Red Cards: Gresko (79)

Uniao de Leiria:
Fernando, Eder, Bruno Miguel, Eder Gaucho, Laranjeiro, Tiago, Lukasiewicz (Faria, 49), Alhandra (Sougou, 60), Paulo Cesar, Cadu Silva (Tonito, 65), Joao Paulo
Yellow Cards: Lukasiewicz (47), Faria (51 & 87), Eder Gaucho (77), Sougou (79)
Red Cards: Faria (87)

Goals:
[1-0] Kiessling, 18
[1-1] Joao Paulo, 28
[2-1] Rolfes, 30
[3-1] Kiessling, 78