A red card and seven goals: Leverkusen topple Wolfsburg as Boniface bags injury-time winner
| Photo: Bayer 04 Leverkusen |
Xabi Alonso rotated heavily with five alterations from his side that made light work of Feyenoord in Champions League action last Thursday. However, it would be far from a dream starting debut for Nordi Mukiele who turned Amoura's cross into his own net. Leverkusen responded less than 10 minutes later as Grimldo's cross sailed through to Xhaka. The midfielder spotted Wirtz on the edge of the box to expertly steer home through a crowded penalty area.
Goals continued to flow for both sides in an utterly end-to-end first-half. Just after the half-hour point, Grimaldo's delivery was spot on this time. Jonathan Tah placing his header inside Grbara's left post. A side could be forgiven for letting their head drop against Xabi Alonso's side, but Die Wölfe didn't. Sebastiaan Bornauw returned the favour with a header of his own rising above Mukiele. In the final minute of the first-half, Mattias Svanberg cut inside to curl beyond Hradecky from 19 yards.
Keeping up with the theme after the break, Die Werkself restored parity inside four minutes as Alex Garcia placed his corner on the head of substitute Piero Hincapié to thump past Grbara. The game entered a sort of lull after that with Schick missing a good chance after a superb Wirtz pass. Yannick Gerhardt replaced Tiago Tomas with twenty minutes remaining as Hasenhüttl switched to a back five formation.
Die Wölfe were presented with a big chance in the 74th-minute as Hradecky rushed from his goal ans skewed his clearance. Killian Fischer attempted an audacious chip but the full-back's wait for a goal in senior football goes on. Grbara had to be alert late on as the Georgian repelled Boniface. The drama ramped up a notch late on as Gerhardt saw red for a nasty challenge on Frimpong. Granit Xhaka thumped the upright from range with the subsequent attack. Yet somehow the Werkself way is inevitable - Victor Boniface swivelling in the box to drill Palacios' shot to the net and send the BayArena into delirium.