BUNDESLIGA: BAYER LEVERKUSEN DEFEATS HEIDENHEIM 4-1 THANKS TO TWO GOALS FROM VICTOR BONIFACE.

With a 4-1 victory over Hoffenheim, Victor Boniface helped Bayer Leverkusen maintain its great start to the year and draw even with Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga rankings in terms of points.

Nigerian striker Boniface has eight goals in seven games across all competitions after joining Leverkusen from Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise. He has six goals in five Bundesliga appearances. He trails only Serhou Guirassy of Stuttgart and Harry Kane of Bayern.

Leverkusen remains undefeated this season under coach Xabi Alonso, with the lone blemish being a dramatic 2-2 tie with Bayern last week.

Leverkusen took control of the game right on thanks to its deft passing, and in the ninth minute Boniface scored after receiving a pass from Exequiel Palacios with his back to goal, turning to beat defender Tim Siersleben, and putting the ball past goalkeeper Kevin Müller.

Eren Dinkçi’s goal for Heidenheim in the 58th minute brought the score even despite an apparent foul by Siersleben in the buildup, but Leverkusen regained the lead with three goals in the following 19 minutes.

In the 63rd minute, Palacios’ through-ball allowed Jonas Hofmann to score, splitting the Heidenheim defense, and then Boniface converted a penalty after Lennard Maloney fouled Alejandro Grimaldo.

Before Amine Adli scored the game’s fourth goal with a lob over Müller, Leverkusen transitioned from defense to attack with two accurate long passes.

In front of new German national team coach Julian Nagelsmann, Eintracht Frankfurt’s match with Freiburg ended in a 0-0 tie, the club’s fourth consecutive Bundesliga draw.

Goalie for Freiburg, Noah Atubolu, made several crucial stops to prevent Frankfurt from taking the lead. Junior Adamu, a substitute, believed he had given Freiburg the victory with a late header, but it was disallowed for a slight offside.

Freiburg has had a rocky start to 2022–23 and has lost all three of its league games. Last season, Freiburg came close to qualifying for the Champions League.