Brace instead of rest: Schick helps Leverkusen beat Poznan 4-0

Patrik Schick was on target again by converting two penalties as he helped Bayer Leverkusen to a comfortable 4-0 victory at Lech Poznan which continued their perfect start into the Europa League on Thursday.

Czech striker Schick was originally to be given a rest but he had to come on after 18 minutes for injured Martin Terrier and converted from the spot for the first time in the 29th after a Terry Yegbe handball. 

Malik Tillman doubled the lead three minutes later after goalkeeper Mateusz Lis had saved a shot from Nathan Tella and a first attempt from Tillman on the rebound. 

Schick then sent Lis the wrong way again in the 41st on his second penalty after he was pulled down by Mateusz Skrzypczak. 

Ibrahim Maza wrapped up matters against harmless hosts in the 89th minutes, after Schick missed completing a hat-trick shortly after the restart by heading wide from close range. 

"We won because of our intensity, that was the key. The two penalties helped," Schick told broadcasters RTL. 

"I feel sorry for Martin that he is injured. The plan before the match was that I would only play for maybe 30 minutes," added Schick, who eventually played for almost an hour before being substituted in the 76th.

Schick raised his season tally to eight goals, plus four assists, from eight matches across all competitions. He only failed to score in the Europa League opening 2-0 win over Celje last month.