Florian Wirtz’s Late Penalty Secures Leverkusen Win

Florian Wirtz secured a dramatic victory for Bayer Leverkusen in their Bundesliga title defense opener with a last-minute penalty rebound against Borussia Monchengladbach. In the 11th minute of stoppage time, Wirtz seized on his missed penalty, awarded after Amine Adli suffered a foul in the box, by scoring on the rebound from Jonas Omlin’s save.

Leverkusen, who finished unbeaten in the league last season had previously allowed a two-goal lead to slip. They followed this late win with their German Super Cup triumph over Stuttgart on penalties. In the first game of the Bundesliga season, Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen took the lead just 12 minutes in when Granit Xhaka, formerly of Arsenal fired a powerful strike past Omlin.

Leverkusen continued to pressure Monchengladbach with Victor Boniface and Edmond Tapsoba hitting the woodwork. Leverkusen extended their lead to 2-0 when Wirtz drove home a rebound after Alejandro Grimaldo’s shot was blocked. Monchengladbach had a goal ruled out before halftime when the video assistant referee disallowed Tim Kleindienst’s effort for offside.

Monchengladbach pulled one back in the 59th minute when Nico Elvedi headed in after Lukas Hradecky initially saved his first attempt. The hosts seemed set for a draw when Kleindienst equalized in the 85th minute with a goal from a Kevin Stoger pass. However, Florian Wirtz’s decisive penalty rebound in stoppage time secured all three points for Leverkusen and ensured they began their Bundesliga campaign with a thrilling victory.