Given that one side had scored five goals in each of the last three head-to-heads at this venue, it was no surprise to see a first half loaded with goals at Deutsche Bank Park.
As the scoreline suggests, most of the early momentum was in Leverkusen’s favour, and they opened the scoring on 26 minutes through the lively Nathan Tella.
The Nigerian international received it from Granit Xhaka, shifted away from Arthur Theate and cut back across his body to roll into the bottom-left corner.
Frankfurt had no answer to what came next, and it was just three minutes before Leverkusen doubled their lead, doing so when an Aleix Garcia corner prompted chaos in the area, leaving a sharp Nordi Mukiele to prod in from close range.
That saw Die Werkself already equal their tally from the previous three Bundesliga outings in less than half an hour here.
And Xabi Alonso’s unstoppable machine bettered that just four more minutes later with a well-worked move, which began with Xhaka’s long ball to Alejandro Grimaldo, who pulled it back to the centre of the area for Schick to finish.
Out of almost nowhere, however, some seeds of doubt were planted shortly before the break, when Hugo Ekitike intercepted Mukiele’s poor backpass and finished into the empty net, denying Die Werkself a fourth consecutive clean sheet.
Ekitike also struck a stunning volley off the post just as the second half got underway, and the visitors battened down the hatches after that, frustrating their opponents until they restored their three-goal cushion.
Jeremie Frimpong’s initial ball in was cleared, but only as far as Garcia, who hit a bouncing volley into Lukas Hradecky’s far corner.
Unlike at the first half’s conclusion, Frankfurt were unable to cause any trouble in the closing stages, and were ultimately fortunate not to let in another. As there was no slip-up for Bayern Munich on Friday night, Leverkusen badly needed this win to restore what remains a very daunting eight-point gap, despite them still losing just once in the league this season.
Frankfurt, meanwhile, shipped four for a second successive outing, and are now just one point from fourth place, having sat at least third since matchday nine.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Aleix Garcia (Bayer Leverkusen)
