Brilliant Boniface helps Leverkusen bounce back

Defending champions Bayer Leverkusen put their first defeat in 35 Bundesliga games behind them on Saturday when they thumped Hoffenheim 4-1 with Victor Boniface bagging a brace.

The win will be a confidence-boost for Xavi Alonso’s men Leverkusen, who start their Champions League campaign next Tuesday in Rotterdam against Feyenoord.

Frenchman Martin Terrier scored his first Bundesliga goal to give the visitors a deserved lead, before Boniface danced around defenders to add a second while Mergim Berisha soon pulled one back.

“It comes from a Tiktok trend in Nigeria, who created this dance and he asked me if I could do it after I scored,” said Boniface, explaining his goal celebration.

But eventually, Leverkusen found a way through. Florian Wirtz converted a penalty before Boniface added a well-taken second.

“A good team loses once, but not two, three or four times in a row,” Granit Xhaka said afterwards.

Hoffenheim goalkeeper Oliver Baumann, making his 464th Bundesliga appearance to draw level with German football legend Lothar Matthäus, made a string of saves to keep the home side in the game.

– Leipzig held –
Despite dominating, Leipzig couldn’t find a way past Union Berlin and had to settle for a point after a 0-0 draw.

With Marco Rose out suspended and Bo Svensson sick, both teams were without their head coaches on the sideline.

Xavi Simons hit the bar, and Union goalkeeper Frederik Ronnow saved a Lois Openda penalty and a David Raum free kick to frustrate the hosts, who couldn’t maintain their perfect start to the season.

Elsewhere, Frankfurt beat Wolfsburg 2-1 as Omar Marmoush came back to haunt his former employer by scoring a goal in each half.

At the third time of asking, Stuttgart got their first win of the season by