Boniface snatches last-gasp victory for Leverkusen
Victor Boniface delivered a 93rd-minute winner as Bayer Leverkusen pulled off yet another stunning Bundesliga comeback for a 4-3 victory over Wolfsburg.
Nordi Mukiele turned into his own net in the fourth minute, but Xabi Alonso's hosts levelled nine minutes later when Florian Wirtz struck from the edge of the box at BayArena.
Jonathan Tah edged the hosts ahead with a cool header in the 32nd minute but their lead was short lived as the visitors equalised from Sebastiaan Bornauw's headed finish.
Further Wolfsburg joy followed when Mattias Svanberg went on a driving run in Leverkusen's half and curled past goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky on the stroke of half-time.
Alonso made two changes at the break and those alterations soon paid dividends when Piero Hincapie headed home Aleix Garcia's 48th-minute cross to make it 3-3.
Wolfsburg's Yannick Gerhardt was then sent off in the 88th minute, with substitute Boniface making use of the one-man advantage to rifle home a loose ball in the penalty area for the winner.
Boniface proved the late hero after following up his two goals and an assist against Hoffenheim last time out, the second instance of the striker managing three goal involvements in a single Bundesliga game.
Yet the Leverkusen forward's heroics cannot mask Alonso's defensive issues, having shipped another three goals here despite only facing an expected goals (xG) tally of 0.66.
Alonso's men have now conceded nine goals in the league, and Leverkusen is the first defending champion to go without a clean sheet in the first four Bundesliga games of the season since Kaiserslautern in 1998-1999.
Fortunately, Leverkusen continues to impress at the other end, accumulating 1.92 xG from 20 attempts on goal as it profited from deadly finishing from the chances it created.
Captain Granit Xhaka called the result a "huge wake-up call" for his side and knows there is plenty of room for improvement.
"This is a huge wake-up call for all of us. We can't continue with this performance," Xhaka said.
"We can't defend so naively. That's not good enough and shouldn't happen at this level. A top team doesn't concede two goals in nine minutes! It was all far too easy."
Boniface, meanwhile, looked on the brighter side.
"We knew how Wolfsburg would play and what we were up against," he said.
"We really wanted to turn the game around for our fans.
"We managed to do that. Now, of course, we're very happy."
