Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 West Ham United
UEFA Europa League quarter-final first leg, BayArena, Thursday 11 April 2024, 9pm CEST (8pm BST)
West Ham United will have to come from behind if they are to reach a third consecutive European semi-final, after substitutes Jonas Hofmann and Victor Boniface struck late on to power Bayer Leverkusen to a 2-0 win in the UEFA Europa League quarter-final first leg at the BayArena.
David Moyes’ men stuck to a disciplined gameplan from the first whistle, and though Łukasz Fabiański was required to make a number of key saves throughout the first 45 minutes, Mohammed Kudus had a good chance to snatch the lead.
The match somewhat opened up after the interval and the away side gained a foothold with the ball, and though they weathered much of the storm served up by Leverkusen, Hofmann finally broke the deadlock with seven minutes to go before Boniface doubled his team’s advantage in stoppage-time.
The result puts West Ham on the back foot against a team unbeaten throughout the whole of 2023/24 ahead of next week’s home leg, but they will remain hopeful they can replicate their turnaround against Leverkusen’s compatriots SC Freiburg in the previous round.
Boss Moyes made two changes to the XI that started the 2-1 away win at Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League last time out, with Michail Antonio and Aaron Cresswell replacing the injured Jarrod Bowen and suspended Edson Álvarez respectively.
Leverkusen put pressure on the away box within the first three minutes, after James Ward-Prowse conceded a free-kick out wide on the right, but Vladimír Coufal rose highest to meet the set-piece and took a whack in the head for his troubles.
Fabiański had to be alert to react to an instinctive Patrik Schick flick that changed the path of Josip Stanišić’s low effort, but then, at the other end, Kudus should have perhaps done better when Antonio beat a defender on the left flank and cut the ball back across goal, with the No14 only managing to shoot tamely at Matēj Kovář.
The home side were back on the attack almost instantaneously, and a curling Amine Adli attempt needed a strong palm from Fabiański to guide the ball away from danger, before another shot by Leverkusen’s Morocco international was deflected off target by Tomáš Souček.
Xabi Alonso’s charges continued to threaten in pretty relentless fashion, and after Schick failed to test Fabiański with a header, the latter acrobatically denied Álex Grimaldo, with a parry that just evaded Jeremie Frimpong lurking at the back post.
Things became heated around the midway point in the first half, with a heavy Lucas Paquetá tackle earning him a booking that will rule him out of the second leg, and sparking some argy-bargy between the two sets of players.
A powerful, low Schick drive needed saving when the Czech Republic forward found a gap between Kurt Zouma and Dinos Mavropanos close to the half-hour mark, moments ahead of an Edmond Tapsoba try that this time Fabiański held well.
The ever-industrious Antonio did incredibly to somehow twist and turn his way past three defenders in the 36th minute, and create something out of nothing, but the Jamaica international just couldn’t find Paquetá with his attempted cross.
The Hammers had enjoyed less than 25 per cent of the ball by the time referee Artur Dias blew the half-time whistle, though the score remained goalless at the break, and they contained their opponents well in the first ten minutes of the second period.
A yellow card for Emerson on the 56-minute mark, for a foul on Adli, ensured that he too will miss the return leg at London Stadium, and though there was better news for the Irons when Ward-Prowse whipped in a dangerous ball from a free-kick out on the right, Leverkusen cleared their lines and were quickly charging forward again.
Fabiański came to the rescue with a superb reactive save to keep out an angled Schick header with little under 20 minutes to go, and the 38-year-old then did well to beat Hofmann to the ball after he was set through one-on-one.
Hofmann did get the better of the former Poland international in the 83rd minute however, the home No7 latching on to Zouma's half-clearance after a corner, and unleashing a shot that bobbled through several bodies and into the net for 1-0.
With the momentum in their favour, Die Werkself continued to push forward, and crucial last-ditch blocks were needed from Nayef Aguerd and Souček to keep out home skipper Jonathan Tah.
But a second goal did arrive courtesy of Boniface in the early stages of three minutes of added time, with the Nigeria international heading home to put gloss on the scoreline and reduce West Ham’s hopes of progression.
Bayer Leverkusen: Kovář, Stanišić (Hincapié 66), Tah ©, Tapsoba, Grimaldo, Xhaka, Palacios, Frimpong (Tella 67), Wirtz, Adli (Hofmann 76), Schick (Boniface 76)
Subs not used: Hradecky (GK), Lomb (GK), Kossounou, Andrich, Borja Iglesias, Arthur, Puerta
Goals: Hofmann 83, Boniface 90+1
West Ham United: Fabiański, Coufal, Zouma ©, Mavropanos (Aguerd 86), Cresswell, Emerson, Ward-Prowse, Souček, Paquetá, Kudus (Johnson 86), Antonio
Subs not used: Anang (GK), Knightbridge (GK), Ogbonna, Casey, Earthy, Orford, Cornet, Mubama, Ings
Booked: Paquetá, Emerson
Referee: Artur Dias (POR)
Attendance: 30,210
