April 11, (THEWILL)- Bayer Leverkusen claimed a 2-0 victory over West Ham United at the BayArena on Thursday, in a closely contested Europa League quarter-final first leg. The German side’s patient and incisive play ultimately proved too much for the resilient Hammers.
Backed by a vocal home crowd, Leverkusen quickly established control of possession, but the visitors defended resolutely. West Ham’s Michail Antonio posed an early threat on the counterattack, but the hosts’ dominance eventually paid off.
Leverkusen’s Spanish head coach Xabi Alonso watched on as his team continued to probe, with Lukasz Fabianski making a series of impressive saves to deny the likes of Amine Adli, Exequiel Palacios and Edmond Tapsoba. However, the Hammers’ discipline was tested, with Lucas Paquetá and Emerson Palmieri receiving cautions that will keep them out of the second leg.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 83rd minute when Jonas Hofmann capitalised on a blocked effort to give Leverkusen the lead. Nigerian forward Victor Boniface then doubled the advantage with a header, continuing the home side’s perfect record of winning all their Europa League matches at the BayArena this season.
The result leaves West Ham with an uphill task in the second leg at London Stadium, with Leverkusen demonstrating their resilience and quality to pocket this first-leg advantage.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
