Schick’s late brace maintains Leverkusen’s unbeaten streak
Patrik Schick’s two goals in stoppage time saved Bayer Leverkusen’s unbeaten streak
In a dramatic turn of events, Bayer Leverkusen secured a thrilling victory against Qarabag in the Europa League. Substitute Patrik Schick emerged as the hero, scoring two crucial goals deep into stoppage time to snatch a 3-2 win.
The win keeps Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen unbeaten after 37 matches this season and sends them through to the Europa League’s last eight.
With Leverkusen 2-1 down on the 90-minute mark, the Czech striker – who scored in stoppage time in the first leg to level the scores at 2-2 – scored in the 93rd and 98th minutes to turn the game on its head.
Goalscorer Schick praised his team’s desire on an “unbelievable night.”
“The team has done it once more,” he said of the extended unbeaten run. “It’s no coincidence. We fight until the last minute; the team spirit that we have at the moment is unbelievable.”
Leverkusen, one of the favorites to win the Europa League, was heavily tipped to beat the Azerbaijani outsiders at home after fighting back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 in Baku.
After going to halftime 0-0, Qarabag took the lead midway through the second half, Abdellah Zoubir turning in a cross from Leandro Andrade.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men shortly after Elvin Jafarguliyev was sent off. His yellow card was upgraded to a red by VAR for a challenge on Frimpong.
Despite the disadvantage, Qarabag doubled their lead five minutes later through Juninho.
Leverkusen pulled a goal back through Jeremie Frimpong shortly after to keep hope alive.
Striker Schick, criticized for not scoring in seven league games since December, got a boot to an Alex Grimaldo cross to level the scores after 93 minutes.
With the match seemingly headed for added time, Schick scored again, heading in another Grimaldo assist for a remarkable win.
“It might not have been our best performance today, but we won with heart and passion,” Alonso told Germany’s RTL network.
“Anything can happen in football.”
The win keeps unbeaten Leverkusen’s dream of a remarkable treble alive, with Alonso’s side 10 points clear in the Bundesliga with nine games to play and in the German Cup semifinals.
Source: AFP
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