LEVERKUSEN: Champions Bayer Leve­­rkusen scored twice in the opening eight minutes but squandered their lead to settle for a 2-2 draw against visitors Holstein Kiel in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Last season’s domestic league and Cup winners have only themselves to blame for the slip-up having dominated in a largely one-sided first half where they should have scored more goals and put the game to bed.

Instead Leverkusen, winners 1-0 over AC Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday, eased off and despite having a total 24 efforts towards goal compared to their opponents’ eight, Kiel proved more efficient after the break to snatch an unexpected point.

Victor Boniface gave Leverkusen the perfect start, slotting in after four minutes to put the hosts in front with his fourth league goal of the campaign.

Before promoted Kiel had any time to recover, Leverkusen struck again, this time with Jonas Hofmann’s low drive, to carve out a two-goal cushion following a mistake by goalkeeper Timon Weiner.

Leverkusen looked to be cruising to a comfortable win, having nine shots by the ninth minute with their opponents desperately scrambling to hang on.

Kiel did, however, recover toward the end of the first half with a goal on the stroke of halftime through Max Geschwill’s shoulder at the far post.

They then drew level thanks to Fiete Arp’s 69th minute penalty. Leverkusen drop to fifth in the standings on 11 points.

Leverkusen captain Lukas Hradecky said the side had lost some of the winning mentality that helped them wrest the title from Bayern last season.

“We were champions because we approached every game like crazy. Today I didn’t see the desire to kill the game,” the goalkeeper said.

“The lead came too quickly and too easily. You should never give up a 2-0 lead, regardless of whether you’re facing Holstein Kiel, AC Milan or Bayern,” Hradecky added.

In the capital, Union Berlin streaked into a 2-0 lead against Borussia Dortmund thanks to a penalty from Kevin Vogt and a goal from 23-year-old Belgian forward Yorbe Vertessen.

Norwegian international Julian Ryerson put Dortmund back in contention with a 62nd-minute strike but it was not enough as Dortmund crashed to a 2-1 defeat, leaving them with 10 points from a possible 18 this season.

In other games, VfL Wolfsburg gained a valuable three points in a 3-1 win away to Bochum to lift themselves out of the relegation zone.

Werder Bremen lost 1-0 at home to Freiburg, who climbed to third.

In Saturday’s final game, Jonathan Burkardt scored twice as Mainz won 3-0 away to St Pauli.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2024