Bayer Leverkusen secured a dramatic 3-2 victory over Borussia Monchengladbach on Friday, thanks to a penalty awarded in stoppage time. The defending Bundesliga champions initially took a commanding two-goal lead, only to see it diminish before staging a late comeback.
Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz converted a rebound after his penalty was saved in the 11th minute of injury time, sealing the win at Borussia-Park. This marked the club’s 12th goal in stoppage time across all competitions since the beginning of last season, surpassing any other team in Europe’s top five leagues.
Granit Xhaka, who opened the scoring with a powerful 25-yard shot in the 12th minute, reflected on the team’s mentality. “This is not a blot, to believe until the end, doesn’t matter how we play,” he said. “The quality that we have shows once more that we believe until the end and we are happy to take the three points back home.”
Xabi Alonso attributed the late goals to the team’s mindset. “We can’t train that and I can’t influence it,” he noted. “It’s the mentality of the team.”
Leverkusen seemed in control with a 2-0 lead after Wirtz doubled the score in the 38th minute, but the match turned when Nico Elvedi scored for Gladbach in the 59th minute, followed by Tim Kleindienst equalizing in the 85th. Despite the setback, Leverkusen persisted and ultimately claimed victory.
Alonso acknowledged areas for improvement moving forward: “We weren’t always so compact today, we were also a bit passive in some phases. We have to be more aggressive.”
The match was briefly interrupted at the start of the second half due to flare smoke from fans, but Leverkusen’s triumph maintained their impressive 35-game unbeaten run in the league.