Bayer Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes has praised Victor Boniface after the Nigerian striker produced a late winner in their 2-1 pre-season victory over Newcastle United, Footynaija.com reports.
Boniface started the game on the bench at St James’ Park before coming on in the 80th minute to replace Ibrahim Maza.
The Super Eagles forward needed just two minutes to make his presence felt, receiving the ball around the edge of the box before dancing past Newcastle midfielder Sean Steur and curling a superb right-footed effort into the far corner.
Related Post
His 82nd-minute strike sealed Leverkusen’s victory after Maza had opened the scoring inside the first minute and Malick Thiaw levelled for the hosts before half-time.
Rolfes was particularly pleased to see Boniface produce the kind of individual quality that has made him such an important player for the German club.
“He scored a fantastic goal. We’re very happy for Boni that he managed to score in front of such a crowd,” Rolfes said, per Bild.
“When the opponent blocks like that and then makes that movement inside, that’s quality. And when the opponent doesn’t block, he blasts the ball towards goal with incredible speed.
“The fact that he’s capable of those kinds of moves again is a positive development.”
The goal represents another encouraging step for Boniface, who has endured a difficult period with injuries and a frustrating loan spell at Werder Bremen.
The Nigerian returned to Leverkusen this summer with the coaching staff carefully managing him during pre-season as he continues to build his fitness following knee surgery in January.
Despite featuring mostly for short periods in recent friendlies, Boniface has shown glimpses of his quality, and his latest contribution could provide another boost ahead of Leverkusen’s competitive campaign.
Leverkusen will begin their season with a DFB-Pokal trip to SV Wehen Wiesbaden on August 22 before opening their Bundesliga campaign away to SV Elversberg a week later.
Boniface will now hope to continue his steady progress and prove that he can once again become a major attacking weapon for the one-time German champions.
