Super Eagles star, Victor Boniface scored his first goal since returning from a three-month injury lay off to help German side Bayer Leverkusen beat West Ham United of England 2-0 in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final encounter Thursday night in Germany.
Boniface who missed Nigeria’s run to the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations as a result of the injury, scored the second goal for Bayer Leverkusen in the 91st minute with a well-directed header after a cross from Jonas Hofmann.
The home side had taken the lead in the 83rd minute through Hofmann.
The team managed by Xabi Alonso dominated possession but were largely frustrated by a superbly organised West Ham defence until the late goals from Hofmann and Boniface.
The win ensured that Bayer Leverkusen stretch their unbeaten run to 42 matches.
The second leg comes up next week at the London Stadium.
Elsewhere, another English side Liverpool face a huge battle to stay in the Europa League after suffering a shock 3-0 home defeat to Italian outfit, Atalanta at Anfield.
Former West Ham forward Gianluca Scamacca scored in each half, before former Chelsea player Mario Pasalic added a late third goal to make the Italians strong favourites to reach the semi-finals when the sides meet in the return leg next week in Bergamo.
The winners of this tie will face Benfica or Marseille in the semi-finals.
Benfica beat 2-1 last night in Lisbon.
In another encounter, A.S Roma beat AC Milan 1-0 at the San Siro to record an away win in the all Italian quarter final fixture.
Gianluca Mancini scored the only goal of the game in the 17th minute.
The winners over the two legs will face Bayer Leverkusen or West Ham in the semi finals