(GSM) – Bayer Leverkusen coach Jupp Heynckes has expressed his unhappiness and accused his players of ‘lacking commitment’ after the BayArena giants fell to their first defeat of the season in the Bundesliga at FC Nürnberg on Sunday.
Leverkusen had the perfect opportunity to draw level on points with Bundesliga leaders Bayern München, who were held to a 1-1 draw at Cologne 24 hours earlier, by winning at the Franken Stadion.
But that possibility never looked likely once Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting scored twice for the home side in the lead-up to half-time.
Mickael Tavares added a third ten minutes into the second half to extend the struggling hosts’ advantage.
While Stefan Kiessling and Patrick Helmes reduced the arrears, there was no consolation for Heynckes, who did not hold back in his criticism afterwards.
“That was a bitter defeat for us,” he said. ” Nürnberg deserved the win given our first-half performance, which lacked commitment and passion.
“You can’t expect to be successful if you play like that. We can’t afford to defend like that. We did fight back in the last half hour and scored against a well-organised defence, but Nürnberg fought and played better than we did.”
Nürnberg’s win moved them out of the relegation zone, much to the delight of boss Dieter Hecking, who reserved special praise for on-loan Choupo-Moting.
“That was a great performance by my team. We weren’t home and dry at 3-0 but my players put in an incredible effort,” he said.
“Choupo-Moting had an outstanding game. We had high hopes that he would hit it off. He’s constantly shown what he’s capable of in training.”
