Match report: Bayer Leverkusen 2-3 AS Monaco
A stoppage time thunderbolt from Axel Disasi ensured AS Monaco will take a 3-2 advantage back to the Principality in their UEFA Europa League (UEL) knockout playoff tie with Bayer 04 Leverkusen, thanks in part to a catastrophic own-goal from Die Werkself stopper Lukáš Hrádecký.
Bayer Leverkusen’s fortunes this campaign have seen a slight recovery under Xabi Alonso since his appointment in October, but it wasn’t enough for them to avoid a transfer from the UEFA Champions League to the UEL.
The hands of fate delivered a clash with Monaco, resurgent in Ligue 1 and unbeaten in 2023 – but the French visitors required zero skill to carry on that momentum, being gift wrapped a ninth-minute lead in calamitous circumstances.
Out of nothing, Hrádecký mis-controlled a Jonathan Tah back pass, before bizarrely putting the ball into his own net under pressure from Breel Embolo.
Despite finding himself on the floor, the Finn’s appeals for a foul went unanswered, rubber-stamping Monaco’s earliest UEL away goal in history.
A stunned Leverkusen struggled to match the tempo of a spirited Monaco side thereafter, and despite lively displays from Leverkusen duo Jeremie Frimpong and Moussa Diaby, stern words were surely in order from Alonso at HT. His side came out a changed team in the second half.
They duly drew level just minutes after the restart, when some devastating passing play between Florian Wirtz, Frimpong and Diaby resulted in the Frenchman dancing into the box and slotting the ball coolly underneath Alexander Nübel for his first UEL goal in eleven months.
Leverkusen were now firmly on the front foot, creating chances aplenty before turning the game on its head with less than an hour gone.
Having returned from a long term injury earlier in the season, Wirtz produced some individual magic, darting between the floundering Monaco defenders and sliding his shot well out of reach of Nübel and into the bottom corner.
Despite their dominance, Leverkusen were caught sleeping when Krépin Diatta cut inside on his left foot and struck the ball with both power and bend into the far corner, making it two goals a piece.
It was a frantic end to the match, with both sides vying to put their noses in front.
Adam Hložek smashed a shot against the near post for Leverkusen, but Monaco managed to strike the killer blow deep into stoppage time. Central defender Axel Disasi received the ball 30 yards out from goal, and his fantastic long-range strike flew into the corner of the net.
Bayer Leverkusen will be left to rue their early mistake, as they now require a second leg win at Stade Louis II – a stadium at which they have never tasted victory.
