Leverkusen's Boniface Strikes To Snatch 1-1 Draw With Dortmund Before Late VAR Drama

A goal from Nigeria striker Victor Boniface with 11 minutes remaining earned Bayer Leverkusen a 1-1 home draw with Borussia Dortmund on Sunday, keeping the league leaders' unbeaten record this season intact. Dortmund scored just five minutes in through Julian Ryerson and the visitors looked set to be the first side this season to beat Leverkusen in any competition. With the clock running down, Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso brought Patrik Schick from the bench and the move paid immediate dividends, with the Czech attacker finding Boniface for the equaliser.

An "unhappy" Leverkusen midfielder Florian Wirtz told DAZN "even if we managed to equalise, when you see the match we would have hoped for better and we should have done better."

Dortmund manager Edin Terzic praised his team's defence in the "fair result", but hit out at VAR, who declined to intervene despite what seemed like a late foul on winger Karim Adeyemi.

"We discuss VAR every week, we discuss clear wrong decisions, about handball and foul play, but that wasn't enough?" Terzic said of the incident.

"That's what really upsets me, because it is not fair."

The draw means Leverkusen end the round three points ahead of Bayern Munich on the ladder, although the Bavarians have a game in hand after Saturday's match with Union Berlin was postponed due to heavy snowfall.

Telling reporters his players "did enough to win", Alonso said his team, who have won 18 and drawn two of their 20 matches this season, needed to "be realistic" about the result.

"We know what we've done until now and we know what we must do. The path is clear and the players are totally convinced of the way forward."

Alonso made eight changes to the XI which won 2-0 at Swedish side Hacken on Thursday,