Leverkusen drop points as Holstein Kiel produce valiant comeback
Having made the worst five-game start to a Bundesliga title defence since Dortmund in 2012/13, Leverkusen were eager to get off to a lightning-quick start, and Die Werkself roared into a 2-0 lead inside 10 minutes.
First came a jink and a low shot down the middle from Victor Boniface after picking up a short pass from birthday boy Exequiel Palacios inside the box, before the latter found Jonas Hofmann deep in the danger zone with another inspired pass, allowing him to fire in at close range to leave Kiel shell shocked.
Boniface was proving a constant menace, and he looked for the world to have made it 3-0 when a goal kick from Timon Weiner fell straight to Granit Xhaka, who played a deadly through-ball to the Nigerian. Another jink and shot, this time into the far corner, sent the home fans wild – but VAR deemed him to be offside.
And after weathering a few more chances, the visitors halved the deficit out of nowhere on the stroke of half-time. Lewis Holtby's pinpoint corner found Max Geschwill, who headed home to put Kiel back in the game.
A double substitution for Kiel at half-time portrayed a desire to capitalise on this unexpected surge of momentum, with attackers Fiete Arp and Benedikt Pichler taking to the field. That approach didn’t lead to a repeat of the disastrous early minutes, though Leverkusen remained the likelier scorers, as a failed clearance from Kiel led to Jonathan Tah firing over from outside the box.
Meanwhile, the visitors were reliant on breakaways to threaten an equaliser, and they nearly got one when Pichler’s fresher legs allowed him to break forward and attempt a shot that needed a quick intervention from Edmond Tapsoba to thwart.
But what seemed unthinkable just an hour earlier finally happened barely a minute later, as Kiel got a golden chance to level from the spot following a foul by Jeremie Frimpong on Armin Gigovic inside the area. Arp stepped up and fired into the far-right corner as Lukas Hradecky guessed wrong with his dive. Kiel then came agonisingly close to taking the lead as another counter led to Timo Becker crossing for Pichler to head into the ground at the far post and force Hradecky to tip the ball over.
Alonso had responded to the equaliser with a triple change, plus the deployment of Amine Adli a few minutes later. That meant Kiel had to make deep defending a priority in the final 10 minutes, especially up against a side that had acquired 15 of last season’s title-winning points via goals scored in the 80th minute or later.
Martin Terrier headed over the Kiel bar late on, but the underdogs held firm for a potentially precious point which will feel more like a victory under the circumstances – even if they are now the first Bundesliga debutant in 13 years to go winless in their opening six matches.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen)
