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BERLIN: Bayer Leverkusen let a two-goal lead slip to draw 3-3 at 10-man Werder Bremen on Saturday, denying new coach Erik ten Hag his first league win in charge.

Leverkusen were 3-1 ahead and a man up after Patrik Schick’s Panenka penalty midway through the second-half, with Bremen’s Niklas Stark shown a second yellow card for the foul which led to the spot-kick.

But Leverkusen let Bremen back into the match when goalkeeper Mark Flekken advanced out of his area and misjudged a long ball, allowing Isaac Schmidt the easiest of finishes.

Bremen continued to attack and snatched a point in the fourth minute of stoppage time, Karim Coulibaly volleying in after the ball bounced off the crossbar.

Coulibaly, 18, is Bremen’s youngest ever goalscorer in the Bundesliga.

Leverkusen were also 2-0 up in the first half after Schick scored a fifth-minute opener and debutant Malik Tillman added another on the 35th-minute mark.

Bremen won a controversial penalty, converted by Romano Schmidt on the stroke of half-time, before the second-half drama.

The result puts some early pressure on Ten Hag who is trying to weave together a team full of new recruits, while reviving his own reputation after a poor end to his Manchester United stint.

“There were too many simple mistakes from us... we did dumb things and gave the game away,” Tillman told DAZN.

Despite the disappointment, the draw kept Leverkusen’s remarkable away run alive, with the club unbeaten on the road in the league since May 2023.

“(It is) hard to accept. We have to improve very quickly. Obviously, this is not a good situation,” Schick said.

Elsewhere, new Eintracht Frankfurt winger Ritsu Doan scored a brace and added an assist as his side cruised to a 3-1 win at Hoffenheim.

Japan winger Doan, who arrived from Freiburg in the summer, netted Frankfurt’s opener on 17 minutes with a superb curling effort from well outside the box.

Doan doubled up 10 minutes later, tapping in a Jean-Matteo Bahoya pass on the break, before laying on an excellent pass for Can Uzun to score Frankfurt’s third.

Stuttgart beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 1-0 at home thanks to a late header from Chema Andres, just hours after striker Nick Woltemade’s departure to Newcastle was made official.

The German Cup holders were sluggish but grabbed the three points when Andres headed in with 79 minutes played after some poor marking by the Gladbach defense.

RB Leipzig bounced back from last week’s 6-0 drubbing at the hands of Bayern Munich, winning 2-0 at home against Heidenheim thanks to goals from Christoph Baumgartner and new striker Romulo Cardoso.

In Saturday’s late game, defending champions Bayern play at Bavarian neighbors Augsburg.

LONDON: Chelsea striker Liam Delap may be out for weeks after suffering a hamstring injury during Saturday’s 2-0 Premier League win over Fulham, manager Enzo Maresca said.

Delap went down clutching his thigh 13 minutes into the home game and walked straight into the tunnel after the medics had looked at it.

Three key Chelsea players have now suffered injuries this month, with attacker Cole Palmer also absent due to a groin injury and center back Levi Colwill ruled out for most of the season with a cruciate ligament tear.

“Injury doesn’t look good. He was full speed, hamstring, so that requires weeks,” Maresca told a press conference.

Maresca, who said Chelsea would look to sign another defender after Colwill’s injury, did not rule out going into the market for another striker.

“When you have two strikers, it is enough. When one of them is injured for weeks, it is probably not enough,” he said.

The manager said he could not tell if this summer’s Club World Cup campaign, which Chelsea won, played any role in the injuries.

Maresca, however, was happy to have two league wins in a row after being held to a goalless draw by Crystal Palace in their opening league game.

“I’m very happy. We have seven points, it’s important. I wasn’t happy after the first half because we didn’t play on the ball in the way we prepared. Second half, we were very good on the ball and good with second balls. We dominated the second half,” he added.