Super Eagles striker Victor Boniface and Bayer Leverkusen were held to a goalless draw by Wolfsburg on Saturday, dropping two crucial points ahead of next week’s title decider against Bayern Munich, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Xabi Alonso’s decision to rotate his squad, benching key players like Florian Wirtz and Patrik Schick while starting Boniface, failed to yield the desired result at the Volkswagen Arena.
The Nigerian forward, who was rewarded with a start after scoring the winner in Wednesday’s DFB Pokal quarter-final victory over FC Koln, had a shot blocked in the second half but couldn’t add to his recent goal-scoring form.
Wolfsburg thought they had taken an early lead through Konstantinos Koulierakis’ header, but the goal was disallowed for offside in a first half lacking fluidity due to numerous fouls.
The draw, Leverkusen’s seventh of the Bundesliga campaign, leaves them eight points behind leaders Bayern Munich, whom they face next week in a crucial title clash.
Alonso had made eight changes from their midweek cup win, with Edmond Tapsoba, Jeremie Frimpong and the suspended Alex Grimaldo joining Schick and Wirtz on the bench.
The Spanish coach had earlier hinted at the possibility of pairing Boniface with Schick in future games following their impressive goal-scoring form.
“That’s a possibility in the future,” Alonso said via the Bundesliga website.
“The important thing for me is that we have good players. Then we can decide whether we play with one, two or three forwards.”
Boniface has now scored twice in three matches since returning from a thigh injury that kept him out for 14 games, while Schick netted three times in the same period, including a brace in the cup win over Koln.
Despite the result, Leverkusen extended their unbeaten run against Wolfsburg to seven Bundesliga matches, while the Wolves will be satisfied with a point that aids their push for European qualification.
