Bayer Leverkusen pulled off a stunning Bundesliga comeback when they twice fought back from a goal down as Victor Boniface netted a 93rd-minute winner in a 4-3 home victory over VfL Wolfsburg on Sunday.
Second-placed Leverkusen have nine points from four games, level with SC Freiburg and Eintracht Frankurt and two ahead of Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig, who play later on Sunday.
Despite taking home the three points, it was far from a convincing performance from the champions, with midfielder Granit Xhaka criticising his side’s defending.
“This is a huge wake-up call for all of us. We can’t continue with this performance,” Xhaka said
“We can’t defend so naively. That’s not good enough and shouldn’t happen at this level. A top team doesn’t concede two goals in nine minutes! It was all far too easy.”
Coach Xabi Alonso opted to shuffle his pack, making five changes to the team that beat Feyenoord 4-0 in the Champions League, and Leverkusen suffered a nightmare start as they conceded from a Nordi Mukiele own goal in the fourth minute.
Leverkusen levelled nine minutes later when Florian Wirtz found space on the edge of the box and swept his shot into the bottom corner, before an unmarked Jonathan Tah scored their second with a cool header at the back post.
The lead was short-lived as the visitors equalised from a Sebastiaan Bornauw header before Mattias Svanberg went on a driving run in Leverkusen’s half and curled the ball past goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky on the stroke of halftime.
Leverkusen looked more assured after Alsonso made two changes during the break and their pressure quickly told, as substitute Piero Hincapie headed home a corner in the 49th minute.
Alonso brought on attackers Boniface and Martin Terrier with Leverkusen desperately seeking a winner and Wolfsburg quickly faded under the pressure.
The visitors suffered another blow when substitute Yannick Gerhardt was shown a red card in the 88th minute after clattering into Jeremie Frimpong from behind and then stepping on the defender’s ankle.
Sensing disarray in Wolfsburg’s ranks, the hosts surged forward and Nigerian Boniface, who started on the bench despite scoring twice in Leverkusen’s last league game, pounced on a loose ball in the penalty area and rifled home the winner.
“We knew how Wolfsburg would play and what we were up against… we really wanted to turn the game around for our fans,” Boniface said.
“We managed to do that. Now, of course, we’re very happy.”
The win will fill Leverkusen with confidence ahead of their daunting clash against in-form league-leaders Bayern Munich on Saturday.
