The visitors came into this encounter at the summit of the table, albeit after just three matchdays, ahead of the hosts on goal difference. As such, Bayer have been talked about as potential title contenders, and that extra expectation may have played on their minds as they struggled early on.
They were lucky a number of mistakes were not punished before Harry Kane headed home unmarked at the back post after Edmond Tapsoba accidentally flicked on Leroy Sane’s corner.
Xabi Alonso’s men, though, slowly recovered and, shortly after Victor Boniface had a dangerous shot blocked by Kim Min-Jae, Alejandro Grimaldo buried a delightful free-kick midway through the first half to level the scores.
The goal gave the visitors confidence, and they started to control proceedings, with Boniface in particular causing problems. The Nigerian even had the ball in the back of the net, but he was marginally offside as he ran onto Florian Wirtz’s through ball.
That reprieve appeared to kick Thomas Tuchel’s outfit into life, and in the minutes leading up to half-time, they had a flurry of chances.
Unfortunately for them, they found Werkself goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky in fine form, as the Finn denied Thomas Muller, Sane, Goretzka and Serge Gnabry with stunning saves. And, although the shot-stopper could then do nothing to deny the latter’s reactionary header from close range, it ultimately trickled wide.
After the interval, Bayern initially carried on their momentum and, after Joshua Kimmich saw a shot from distance easily saved, Hradecky somehow thwarted Harry Kane from six yards, getting his outstretched foot to a low shot.
Following that effort, a period of sloppy play ensued, with both sides making a number of uncharacteristic mistakes. In the final 15 minutes, though, Leverkusen found their groove and had two chances to snatch all three points. The best fell to Wirtz, but he could only drag his shot onto the post before Boniface was denied by Sven Ulreich.
Just as it seemed nothing would separate the two teams, Goretzka tapped home substitute Mathys Tel’s cross to give Bayern a crucial advantage.
However, there was another twist to this tale and, in injury time, the away side were awarded a penalty when Alphonso Davies felled Jonas Hofmann in the area. From 12 yards, Palacios made no mistakes, even as Ulreich got his fingertips to his shot.
The result means the two sides remain level at points and are unbeaten in all competitions so far this term.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Lukas Hradecky (Bayer Leverkusen)
