Europa League: Wirtz's goal helps Leverkusen hold Saint-Gilloise

BERLIN: Bayern Leverkusen managed a 1-1 draw with Royale Union Saint-Gilloise at home after Florian Wirtz equalised Victor Boniface's opener in the first leg of the quarterfinals.

The Werkself controlled possession from the start on Thursday night and nearly scored seven minutes in when Wirtz navigated through Saint-Gilloise's area before shooting wide from a promising position.

The visitors from Belgium waited for counterattacks and almost caught the hosts off guard at the half-hour mark. Boniface shook off two defenders and tested Lukas Hradecky with a dangerous low shot, reports Xinhua.

Saint-Gilloise nearly scored with the subsequent corner kick as Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah deflected the cross onto his own crossbar.

Leverkusen mounted a series of aggressive attacks before the break, but Moussa Diaby's shot narrowly missed the target, and Piero Hincapie squandered a promising header from close range.

Saint-Gilloise punished Leverkusen for their wastefulness in front of the goal 51 minutes in when Teddy Teuma's through ball allowed Boniface to slot home from inside the box into the far bottom corner.

Leverkusen was stunned and struggled to respond as Saint-Gilloise kept all their men behind the ball to maintain the narrow lead.

The hosts found it difficult to penetrate Saint-Gilloise's well-organized defense and had to wait until the 83rd minute when Wirtz unleashed a 20-meter strike to secure a 1-1 draw in front of the home crowd.

"We are, of course, disappointed that we conceded a late goal. We came here to win. We will have to focus on the second leg and stay compact," said Saint-Gilloise's striker Boniface, who leads the Europa League scorer list with six goals.

"It's not the worst result, given the fact we were behind. We wanted to control things, but we lacked accuracy in the final third. Everything is still possible. We must secure an away win if we want to advance to the next round," said Leverkusen head coach Xabi Alonso.