Victor Boniface continued his impressive pre-season preparations by providing an assist as Bayer Leverkusen came from behind to defeat Kickers Offenbach 3-1 on Saturday.
The Nigerian striker, who scored twice in Leverkusen’s 7-0 victory over Baumberg in their opening pre-season game, made another impact after coming off the bench as the Bundesliga side secured a second consecutive win.
Leverkusen fell behind in the 11th minute when Keanu Staude put Offenbach ahead. However, Christian Kofane restored parity six minutes before half-time to send both teams into the break level at 1-1.
Leverkusen introduced an entirely different lineup for the second half, with Boniface among those brought on.
The 25-year-old immediately made his presence felt, producing clever footwork before delivering a perfectly weighted pass to Jonas Hofmann, who calmly finished in the 49th minute to give Leverkusen a 2-1 lead.
Afonso Moreira completed the comeback in the 81st minute, arriving at the back post to convert a low cross and seal another pre-season victory for the German club.
Boniface will be encouraged by his strong start to pre-season as he looks to force his way back into Leverkusen’s starting XI ahead of the 2026/27 campaign.
The forward spent the first half of the 2025/26 season on loan at Werder Bremen before a serious knee injury ruled him out for much of the remainder of the campaign.
After recovering from the injury, Boniface was the first Leverkusen player to return for pre-season training, highlighting his determination to impress new head coach Carles Martínez.
The Nigerian will now hope to rediscover the form that made him one of the Bundesliga’s most dangerous forwards. In his first two seasons with Leverkusen, Boniface recorded 32 goals and 10 assists in 61 appearances, helping the club win the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and German Super Cup.
