Ten-man Bayer 04 Leverkusen went top of their UEFA Champions League group on Wednesday with a 2-0 win over Andre Villas-Boas’ Zenit St Petersburg to claim a second straight victory.
AS Monaco’s goalless draw at home to SL Benfica meant Leverkusen took over at the top of Group C, despite having lost their opening match at Monaco, before beating Benfica at the BayArena.
Leverkusen’s goals came from defenders Giulio Donati and Kyriakos Papadopoulos to give them a big psychological boost ahead of the return game of the double header in St Petersburg in two weeks.
Photo: Reuters
“We are disappointed with the result and will do everything to win the next one,” Zenit’s Belgium international Axel Witsel said.
Leverkusen were forced to play the final 10 minutes a man down after Brazilian leftback Wendell was sent off for a second yellow card.
“It was a very intense and difficult game, which we had expected,” Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt said. “Despite the red card, we fought with real passion and secured a deserved win.”
Bayer endured a frustrating goalless first half as their attacks were snuffed out by Zenit’s defense in a dull opening 45 minutes, but they finally got the breakthrough they craved when Italian defender Donati unleashed a fierce drive from outside the penalty area on 58 minutes.
His dipping shot gave Zenit goalkeeper Yuri Lodygin no chance as it flew into the bottom-left corner.
Another goal followed five minutes later when Greek defender Papadopoulos headed home Hakan Calhanoglu’s free-kick just two minutes after coming off the bench.
The 22-year-old outmuscled his marker Nicolas Lombaerts to power his header past Lodygin and kill off any hopes of a fightback from the Russian side.
The only black mark on Leverkusen’s copybook was the second yellow card for a handball and the dismissal of leftback Wendell.
South Korea striker Son Heung-min dropped back from the left wing to fill the breach in the Leverkusen defense for the final 10 minutes.
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