Bayer Leverkusen clinched a dramatic 4-3 victory over Wolfsburg on Sunday, thanks to a stoppage-time goal from Victor Boniface. Meanwhile, Borussia Dortmund faced a heavy defeat, losing 5-1 to Stuttgart.
The match between Leverkusen and Wolfsburg was tightly contested, with the score level at 3-3 from the 48th minute. The situation intensified when Wolfsburg’s Yannick Gerhardt received a red card late in the game for a foul on Jeremie Frimpong.
Boniface, who entered the match in the 68th minute, scored the winning goal in the third minute of injury time, putting Leverkusen in a strong position ahead of their upcoming clash with Bayern Munich. Despite the thrilling win, midfielder Granit Xhaka expressed dissatisfaction with the performance, labeling it “a giant wake-up call” and stating, “none of us can be satisfied with the game today.” He added, “We can’t keep going with performances like that… Sure, we scored four but we can’t do that every weekend.”
Leverkusen’s coach, Xabi Alonso, made several changes to the lineup that had previously defeated Feyenoord 4-0 in the Champions League. New loan signing Nordi Mukiele faced a challenging debut, conceding an own goal just five minutes into the match. However, Florian Wirtz quickly equalized with a powerful strike from outside the box.
Jonathan Tah put Leverkusen ahead at 32 minutes, but Wolfsburg responded swiftly, with Sebastiaan Bornauw equalizing five minutes later. Mattias Svanberg then gave Wolfsburg the lead with a goal from the edge of the box, but Leverkusen leveled again through Piero Hincapie just after halftime. Boniface’s late goal secured the win, keeping Leverkusen three points behind league leaders Bayern.
In the late match, RB Leipzig played to a goalless draw against promoted St. Pauli, marking their second consecutive scoreless result. St. Pauli started strong but was thwarted by Leipzig’s goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi. Leipzig improved in the second half, but the match ended without goals, giving St. Pauli their first point of the season.
In Stuttgart, the home side delivered a strong performance, defeating Dortmund 5-1 just days after Dortmund’s 3-1 loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League. Deniz Undav scored twice, with additional goals from Ermedin Demirovic, Enzo Millot, and El Bilal Toure.
Dortmund, who had previously been unbeaten this season, fell behind early, with Undav scoring four minutes in and Demirovic adding a second goal in the 21st minute. Millot extended Stuttgart’s lead shortly after, and although Serhou Guirassy pulled one back for Dortmund, Stuttgart responded with two more goals in the closing stages. Undav remarked, “We showed a reaction to the Real Madrid game and I’m happy.”
Dortmund’s coach, Nuri Sahin, acknowledged the defeat, stating it was “absolutely deserved from the first until the last minute” and expressed confidence that his team would perform better in their next match against Bochum.
