The first chance of the game fell the way of the out-of-form visitors when Martijn Kaars brought down a bobbling ball in the box from a corner and prodded towards goal, only to be denied by Robert Andrich’s clearance.
St Pauli goalkeeper Ben Voll then gifted the hosts their first opening as his short goal-kick was picked off by Malik Tillman. The American played in Patrik Schick, who was perhaps guilty of overplaying slightly and Karol Mets got back on the line to heroically block.
Joel Chima Fujita linked up well with Kaars in the box but swiped his effort wide as St Pauli continued to press forward, but a sucker punch was on the way from Kasper Hjulmand’s side just after the half-hour mark.
With many inside the BayArena claiming for a penalty when Schick went down, Martin Terrier paid no heed and played on. The French forward hit a looping effort from the edge of the box that nestled in the bottom corner to give his side the lead at the break, despite Kaars coming close again just before the interval.
The second half took a while to get going, but just after the hour mark, the 2023/24 champions put the game beyond Die Kiezkicker. Aleix García’s dangerous delivery to the back post was met by Schick, who neatly caressed the ball into the far corner past Voll for his first goal of the calendar year.
Die Werkself came close to a third late on when Jonas Hofmann’s long-range strike came back off the foot of the post, but the midfielder was luckier in stoppage time as he finished off a Leverkusen breakaway having been found by Alejandro Grimaldo.
Alexander Blessin’s visitors struggled to gain any sort of foothold throughout the contest and subsequently bowed out of the competition rather meekly. Their focus will now return to their Bundesliga relegation battle, while Leverkusen march on to the last four.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Patrik Schick (Bayer Leverkusen)