Bayer Leverkusen Remains Unbeaten After Defeating West Ham 2-0 in the Europa League First Leg

Bayer Leverkusen earned a late 2-0 victory in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final against West Ham, with Jonas Hofmann and Victor Boniface coming off the bench to unlock West Ham's defense. Read more sports news here.

Leverkusen stretched their unbeaten run to 42 matches this season, but they had to be patient to break down David Moyes' stubborn defense Hammers. They will take a well-deserved lead to the London Stadium in a week.

"We knew West Ham would play very deep, but we showed we have the quality to beat these teams. The second goal will help us a lot for the second leg. I know how difficult it can be to play away to West Ham, so we’ll have to be focused from the beginning and try to score as well. We’re very pleased to get this result in the first leg against a very, very good team."

Leverkusen’s midfielder, Granit Xhaka, said:

The goalkeeper of the visiting team, Lukasz Fabianski, saved several shots to keep the score even until halftime. However, in the 83rd minute, Hofmann scored a goal for Leverkusen, giving them the lead. Later, in stoppage time, Boniface, who had recently returned from injury, doubled the advantage with a header.

“We’re very disappointed because we worked really hard for 80 minutes, then we gave away two goals from set-pieces. Most of the time, that is our strength. At the same time, you have to give credit to the opposition because they were pushing for the whole game; they created a decent amount of chances. In the end, they deserved to win the game. The most disappointing thing is the second goal. If we’d kept it at 1-0, it would give us more confidence going into the second leg. We won’t give up – we have to believe. We have a very good record at home in Europe. I wouldn’t say we ran out of energy. The second goal was a bit too easy. It felt like the striker had too much space so that’s more disappointing.”

Lukasz Fabianski responded to the defeat:

Xabi Alonso's Leverkusen leads the Bundesliga by 16 points and can clinch the title with a win against Werder Bremen at home on Sunday.

Bayer Leverkusen could secure the Bundesliga title if they beat Werder Bremen at the BayArena Stadium on Sunday. Kick-off is at 16:30.