Defend 3-1 advantage against ten-man rival for half an hour? Impossible for Ten Hag's team!

Erik ten Hag and his men had a tough challenge embodied in Werder Bremen today, but the victory after a painful defeat to Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga opening round is everything they needed today in Bremen.

Patrik Schick, who scored a brace (in the fifth and 64th minutes), could have been the hero of Leverkusen's triumph, while Malik Tillman netted his maiden goal with Bayer since joining from PSV ten minutes before the break.

In the 44th minute, Werder managed to score from the spot over Romano Schmid, who gave them hope that they could avoid a defeat, but their captain Niklas Stark's second yellow and a foul for a penalty in the 64th minute. It seemed that he sealed his team's fate, but alas.

Leverkusen managed to concede twice in the final 15 minutes, after Mark Flekken's horrible mistake and an unnecessary run-out and following an added-time corner kick! In the end, Werder's heroes were Isaac Schmidt and the scorer of the leveller Abdoul Karim Coulibaly!

This way, Ten Hag's sorry crew once again lost points, this time after playing with a man up for over 30 minutes!

Only five minutes into the game, Lever exploited Abdoul Karim Coulibaly's colossal error, as Nathan Tella made a fantastic solo effort through the left flank and found Patrik Schick, who easily placed the ball into the net, hinting at a good start.

Still, Erik ten Hag's crew simply stopped attacking once they scored, just the way they did against Hoffenheim in the previous round, when they eventually lost the match, allowing the rivals to come from behind.

Nevertheless, in the middle of Werder's offence, Bayer doubled their lead over Malik Tillman ten minutes before the break.

However, that goal didn't discourage the home team, which bounced back quickly over Romano Schmid, who netted from the spot in the 44th minute.

Until the break - during the seven-minute added time - Werder had two massive chances to level the score, but Marco Grull wasted both of them. On the other hand, Levekusen's Christian Kofane hit the bar after another Coulibaly's horrendous mistake.

Leverkusen rubbed salt into the Red Devils’ wound

Once the second period started, Werder continued with pressure, chasing the leveller, but, at the same time, they left too much room for Lever's counters, and were punished shortly. In the 64th minute, Kofane escaped running towards the rivals' goal and the home team's captain Niklas Stark had no other option but to commit a foul for a penalty. Given that he had already had a yellow, he was sent off, while Schick completed a brace, netting from the spot - 3-1.

Although with a man down, Werder managed to reduce the gap thanks to Isaac Schmidt, who exploited the keeper Mark Flekken's terrible error and his unnecessary run-out 14 minutes before the end.

But it wasn't the end, as Coulibaly went from the tragic figure to the hero, as he scored a goal in the dying minutes, bringing a point to his team, and ruining another day for Ten Hag and his sorry team!

BUNDESLIGA - MATCHDAY 2

Friday

Hamburger - St. Pauli 0-2 (0-1)

/Dzwigała 19, Hountondji 60/

Saturday

Hoffenheim - Eintracht Frankfurt 1-3 (0-2)

/Promel 90+1 - Doan 17, 27, Uzun 51/

RB Leipzig - Heidenheim 2-0 (0-0)

/Baumgartner 48, Cardoso 78/

Stuttgart - Monchengladbach 1-0 (0-0)

/Andres 79/

Werder - Leverkusen 3-3 (1-2)

/Schmid 44 pen, Schmidt 76, Coulibaly 90+4 - Schick 5, 64 pen, Tillman 35/

19.30: (10.0) Augsburg (6.50) Bayern (1.25)

Sunday

16.30: (2.10) Wolfsburg (3.45) Mainz (3.50)

18.30: (1.42) Dortmund (4.60) Union Berlin (7.50)

20.30: (2.60) Koln (3.25) Freiburg (2.80)

***odds are subject to change***