Hofmann and Boniface give Leverkusen first-leg advantage against West Ham

It's almost guaranteed that Bayer Leverkusen will have a late comeback. The BayArena was filled with tension and sometimes aggressive behavior. West Ham used defensive tactics that tested the patience of the audience. However, Bayer Leverkusen remained calm, creatively utilized their bench, and were ultimately successful by scoring two goals towards the end of the match. They trusted in their abilities and it paid off.

It's no surprise that Xabi Alonso is seen as a rising star in management, especially since he is about to lead his team to their first ever title victory this Sunday. Even though the stats showed that Leverkusen was dominating with 33 shots compared to West Ham's one, and had more possession, Alonso's team still had to work hard to finally take over the game in this quarterfinal of the Europa League.

West Ham gave it their all and David Moyes' coaching discipline helped keep the game tied at 0-0 with only seven minutes remaining. However, Leverkusen's impressive streak of 42 undefeated games is largely due to their skill in winning late. They proved this once again, as Jonas Hofmann scored the crucial goal after being subbed on. Another one of Alonso's great substitutions, Victor Boniface, sealed their victory with a goal in added time, giving the scoreline a more accurate representation of the game.

Boniface's goal felt like a game-changer as West Ham's team looked tired and deflated from all the running and chasing they had to do. Being two goals down against a top European team made a comeback seem unlikely. West Ham found it difficult to challenge Leverkusen and, in addition to their upcoming selection problems, they'll also have to figure out how to create chances without Lucas Paquetá's creativity in the second leg. Unfortunately, Paquetá was given a yellow card for a childish foul on Amine Adli, which means he's suspended for West Ham's next game.

Moyes stated that the team they are playing tonight is a strong one in the Champions League. However, he expressed his disapproval towards Alonso's coaching team as they strongly protested and influenced the referee to give Paquetá a caution. Moyes found their behavior disgraceful and he was disappointed with how they acted. He strongly believed that the referee should be left to make the decision.

Alonso didn't let the criticism affect him. West Ham had to make changes because of their lack of options without Edson Álvarez and Jarrod Bowen. Moyes chose to use a 4-2-3-1 formation and the away team started strong. Michail Antonio made a great run past Jonathan Tah, but unfortunately Mohammed Kudus didn't shoot well enough to score. However, it was their only real chance. Just sixteen minutes in, the home crowd were unhappy when Lukasz Fabianski took too long to take a goal-kick. Leverkusen were dominating and had already taken five shots at that point. Fabianski made some great saves from Alejandro Grimaldo and Adli.

The game was dominated by one team as Granit Xhaka took control of the midfield while Florian Wirtz and Adli devised their strategies. Without Bowen, West Ham struggled to make an impact and were unable to maintain possession of the ball. Their wing-backs were unable to contribute to the game. The frustration of Leverkusen's playmaker Paquetá was evident when he made a swipe at Adli, which Leverkusen believed deserved a red card. Due to his frustration, Paquetá risked getting booked for a second time.

Alonso advised Leverkusen to remain composed despite being ahead of Bayern Munich by 16 points. They persisted in their attempts, and Fabianski was put to the test by Patrik Schick's shot from an angle. As the first half drew to a close, the atmosphere changed. At times, Antonio's power caused Tah to be flustered, and the striker even desired a penalty after getting entangled with the centre-back.

During the second half of the match, the audience became restless and began to grumble. This was due to West Ham's slow and unproductive attempts to construct their gameplay. Leverkusen's aggressive tactics made them even more uncomfortable. Central midfielders Tomas Soucek and James Ward-Prowse were working hard, but Kudus was not given the opportunity to display his talent.

After 65 minutes of play, Paquetá showed some impressive footwork in the midfield, but unfortunately lost his confidence when Antonio made a mistake with the return pass. It didn't seem likely that they would score an away goal. Moyes believed that the game changed when Konstantinos Mavropanos had to leave the field due to injury. Mavropanos had been a strong defensive presence alongside Kurt Zouma and Aaron Cresswell.

Leverkusen was given a challenge to be more straightforward, so they began attacking from the sides. They used Schick's header to put pressure on Fabianski. As the game progressed, Boniface came into play and caused trouble for the opposing team. He managed to get a hold of a header from a corner and his shot was blocked by Zouma. The ball then fell to Hofmann, who managed to get a hooked shot through the crowd of players and eventually past Fabianski.

Leverkusen never fails to find a solution. As soon as the atmosphere became more relaxed, they strived to score another goal. Another ball was delivered into the penalty area and Boniface widened the gap, making it much harder for West Ham to catch up.