Leverkusen 4-3 Wolfsburg: Boniface nets last-gasp winner in 7-goal thriller

Victor Boniface delivered a 93rd-minute winner as Bayer Leverkusen pulled off a stunning Bundesliga comeback for a 4-3 victory over Wolfsburg on Sunday.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

5' OWN GOAL! Leverkusen 0-1 Wolfsburg (Nordi Mukiele)

12' Match Event for Leverkusen vs Wolfsburg

14' GOAL! Leverkusen 1-1 Wolfsburg (Granit Xhaka)

20' Match Event for Leverkusen vs Wolfsburg

30' Highlight from Leverkusen vs Wolfsburg

32' GOAL! Leverkusen 2-1 Wolfsburg (Jonathan Tah)

37' GOAL! Leverkusen 2-2 Wolfsburg (Sebastiaan Bornauw)

46' GOAL! Leverkusen 2-3 Wolfsburg (Mattias Svanberg)

49' GOAL! Leverkusen 3-3 Wolfsburg (Piero Hincapié)

64' Highlight from Leverkusen vs Wolfsburg

73' Highlight from Leverkusen vs Wolfsburg

77' Highlight from Leverkusen vs Wolfsburg

88' Red Card! Yannick Gerhardt sent off

90' Match Event for Leverkusen vs Wolfsburg

93' GOAL! Leverkusen 4-3 Wolfsburg (Victor Boniface)

Match Report

Nordi Mukiele turned into his own net in the fourth minute, but Xabi Alonso's hosts levelled nine minutes later when Florian Wirtz struck from the edge of the box at BayArena.

Jonathan Tah edged the hosts ahead with a cool header in the 32nd minute but their lead was short-lived as the visitors equalised from Sebastiaan Bornauw's headed finish.

Further Wolfsburg joy followed when Mattias Svanberg went on a driving run in Leverkusen's half and curled past goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky on the stroke of half-time.

Alonso made two changes at the break and those alterations soon paid dividends when Piero Hincapie headed home Aleix Garcia's 48th-minute cross to make it 3-3.

Wolfsburg's Yannick Gerhardt was then sent off in the 88th minute, with substitute Boniface making use of the one-man advantage to rifle home a loose ball in the penalty area for the winner.

Data Debrief: Boniface heroics mask defensive issues

Boniface proved the late hero after following up his two goals and an assist against Hoffenheim last time out, the second instance of the striker managing three goal involvements in a single Bundesliga game.

Yet the Leverkusen forward's heroics cannot mask Alonso's defensive issues, having shipped another three goals here despite only facing an expected goals (xG) tally of 0.66.

Alonso's men have now conceded nine goals in the league, and are the first defending champions to go without a clean sheet in the first four Bundesliga games of the season since Kaiserslautern in 1998-99.

Fortunately, Leverkusen continue to impress at the other end, accumulating 1.92 xG from 20 attempts on goal as they profited from deadly finishing from the chances they created.

Line-ups

Leverkusen XI: Hradecky, Xhaka, Alejandro Grimaldo, Tah, Schick, A.García, Mukiele, Tapsoba, Amine Adli, Florian Wirtz, Jeanuël Belocian

Subs: Hofmann, Robert Andrich, Exequiel Palacios, Terrier, Kovar, Jeremie Frimpong, Victor Boniface, Piero Hincapié, Arthur

Wolfsburg XI: M. Arnold, Svanberg, Cédric Zesiger, Sebastiaan Bornauw, Grabara, Ridle Baku, Jakub Kaminski, Kilian Fischer, Patrick Wimmer, Mohamed Amoura, Tiago Tomás

Subs: Kevin Behrens, Marius Müller, Gerhardt, Vavro, Özcan, Jonas Wind, Aster Vranckx, Konstantinos Koulierakis, Bence Dárdai