Victor Boniface turned from villain to hero by scoring the decisive goal in Bayer Leverkusen’s 2-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in a closely contested Bundesliga match on Saturday.
Despite Boniface’s ordeal with the national team in Libya earlier in the week, Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso felt the forward was fit enough to start the game.
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Boniface had a chance to open the scoring in the 9th minute after Frankfurt’s Eric Ebimbe gave away a penalty for fouling Amine Adli. However, his spot-kick was saved by German goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.
Frankfurt struck first in the 16th minute when Omar Marmoush converted a penalty after being fouled by Robert Andrich. Marmoush made no mistake from the spot, putting the visitors ahead.
Leverkusen quickly responded, with Robert Andrich leveling the score in the 25th minute. The match remained tight until Boniface redeemed himself, heading in the winning goal from close range to secure all three points for his team.
This marked Boniface’s fifth league goal of the season and his second in consecutive games. He was substituted in the 80th minute for Patrik Schick, while fellow Nigerian Nathan Tella replaced Jeremie Frimpong in the final 10 minutes.
Manager Xabi Alonso expressed his satisfaction with the team’s resilience, praising their ability to come back from a deficit and secure a victory, particularly after missing a penalty.
“We showed a great mentality by coming back so strongly after a missed penalty and a penalty against us. And we stuck together really well at the end too. We can build on that.”
