#werder-bremen

#werder-bremen

It was pinball; Marco Grull's delivery was headed out, nodded back towards goal by Isaac Schmidt and heading out for a goal-kick, only for Senne Lynen to stretch and just about keep it in, slicing it up in the air, before it fell to Keke Topp. It felt as if the 21-year-old's sublime finish had been cut and pasted from a different sequence entirely, a sumptuous left-foot volley on the swivel that arrowed past Borussia Monchengladbach's goalkeeper, Moritz Nicolas, hitting the net.

Leverkusen had lost all three of their games in 2026 so far, but they stayed within touching distance of the Bundesliga top five with their first win since mid-December. Patrik Schick thought he had put Leverkusen ahead, only for his goal to be ruled out for handball in the 12th minute, while Ernest Poku blazed over from very close range. But Vazquez clinically slotted home in the 37th minute after lovely link-up play with Ibrahim Maza set him up just inside the penalty area.

"It's obvious that I value him highly, support him, and protect him," said Kovac. "That's also my job as a coach. I know what he's capable of. But I also know that he wants to achieve more. "He's our best striker. He always gives his all, always tries his best. Of course, we're missing five, six, seven goals at the moment. "But these slumps happen. We'll get through this together. It's important to keep building the lad up. He'll be very important in the future."

Alexander Rssing-Lelesiit did not play for Hamburg in Sunday's stellar win, and he will hope that his career has more decisive contributions than this one in store. As the final whistle went on a breathless Nordderby victory over Werder Bremen, the 18-year-old bobbed in front of the visitors' bench and celebrated wildly, prompting some afters between the two squads in a game that bubbled excitedly without exploding into disorder.