Nigeria international Victor Boniface scored for Bayer Leverkusen as the team defeated AC Milan in their 2024-25 Champions League matchday two fixture.
The Die Werkself made it two wins in two games to move to third on the table following the narrow 1-0 victory over AC Milan.
Major Highlights
Just three minutes into the game, AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan was forced into making two good saves by the hosts, with Boniface first testing the Milan goalkeeper from a break before Hincapie stretched the French custodian with a header from the resulting corner kick.
AC Milan also built their presence into the game. Midfielder Loftus-Cheek had stolen possession off Xhaka in the centre, but Bayer Leverkusen centre-back Tah was there to sweep up and avoid a quick break from the visitors.
The early phase of the game saw the hosts dominate proceedings from the start.
Bayer Leverkusen’s first big chance
After a domineering start to proceedings, Bayer Leverkusen had their first big chance in the game in the 18th minute.
Boniface and Frimpong had combined to win Leverkusen’s fourth corner inside 18 minutes, but the Milan defence remained organized and dealt with the delivery from Grimaldo.
Meanwhile, AC Milan were yet to record even a single shot on target with the hosts still dominating proceedings.
Three minutes before the half-hour, A left-foot cross from Grimaldo from the left-hand side was punched back out by Maignan, but only as far as Frimpong whose strike on the rebound sailed high over the goal.
In the 39th minute, Wirtz forced another save out of Maignan in the Milan goal and Frimpong had another chance on the follow-up, but the result stayed the same as the Leverkusen man fired it over the goal. Meanwhile, Pulisic recorded Milan’s first attempt at the Leverkusen goal at the other end moments later.
Referee Sandro Sharer turns down AC Milan penalty appeal
AC MIlan’s only reprieve in the first half came in the 41st minute. Abraham had made his way into the Leverkusen box and went down after a battle with Tapsoba. The Milan striker wanted a penalty, but the referee waved play on! It was a much-improved few minutes from the visitors lately before the end of the first half. However, proceedings ended 0-0 at the break
Victor Boniface finally breaks goal deadlock
Bayer Leverkusen were favourites to win the match from the start but it was still a deadlock for the home side. However, they were finally able to put the visitors to the sword in the second half.
Six minutes into the restart, Nigeria international Victor Boniface finally broke the deadlock.
It was a brilliantly worked goal from Leverkusen. Garcia played his compatriot Grimaldo through inside the box and the Spaniard backheeled the ball onto the path of Frimpong whose shot was denied by Milan goalkeeper Maignan, but it fell kindly for Boniface to tap into an open goal.
Four minutes later, the visitors led an attacking charge to restore parity. Reijnders took his marker out of the game and charged into the box before pulling the trigger for real, but Leverkusen skipper Hradecky made a brilliant save to preserve his side’s advantage.
The game took on a more frenetic tempo with Bayer Leverkusen leading by a lone goal. The Bundesliga giants fought to double the lead while the visitors battled to find an equalizer. The two sides had some second-half substitutions to turn things around all to no avail.
Four minutes before regulation time, AC Milan came extremely close to finding an equalizer. Reijnders delivered a free-kick into the box which was cleared only as far as Loftus-Cheek. The former Chelsea star’s attempt was saved as saved by Hradecky.
The visitors made a late push to find the equalizer but Bayer Leverkusen were equal to task, holding on to win 1-0 after the final whistle.
Bayer Leverkusen Champions League table standing after the win
Following the victory, Bayer Leverkusen climbed to third on the Champions League table with a maximum of six points from two games.
Recall the team opened their campaign with a thumping 4-0 away victory over Feyenoord. They will take on Brest away from home in their next UCL fixture on October 23, 2024.
Meanwhile, AC Milan will be searching for their first win when they take on Club Brugge in their third match on October 22, 2024. The Serie A giants have now lost their first two matches in the competition and are 29th in the table with 0 points.
