The coach of Bayer Leverkusen, Xabi Alonso, has reacted to the impact of lethal striker Victor Boniface after his team defeated West Ham in the quarterfinals of the EUROPA Cup.
Recall that in the second half of the keenly contested match with scores at 0-0, Jonas Hofmann, who came with 13 minutes left, had given Leverkusen the lead on 83 minutes, before Boniface then added the second goal on 91 minutes.
The goal scored by Boniface was his first since returning from a three-month injury, which he suffered in January while he was in the Dubai camp with the Super Eagles.
While reacting to the performance of the player after the hard-fought win against West Ham, Alonso said that he is happy with the performance of the player.
“We are happy with the result and the performance,” Alonso said after the match.
“It was not an easy game to create chances in. They played very deep. We waited for our moment; it was a little late but the players from the bench had a big impact tonight.”
The Spanish coach, who once played for Real Madrid, Liverpool and Bayern Munich, said he expects a different approach from West Ham in the return leg next Thursday.
“They will play very differently next week at home,” Alonso added. “They have nothing to lose. We have time to prepare and will be ready to fight for a place in the semi finals.”
Speaking after the game, Boniface said that he is delighted to be back playing again after the injury that kept him out of competitive soccer for three months.
“I feel good; I feel happy to be playing football again,” he said after the game.
“It was not easy after being injured for two, three months, I missed a lot of games, and I am still trying to come back.
“I am happy to come and help my team.”
“We played West Ham in pre-season, and so we know the type of game they play.
“The important thing was to be patient, play our style and convert our chances when they come and that’s what we did.” Boniface said.
