Elversberg stun Bayer Leverkusen with historic Bundesliga debut victory
Elversberg got their maiden Bundesliga campaign off to a dream start with an incredible win over established giants Bayer Leverkusen.
Elversberg 3-2 Bayer Leverkusen
Goals: 1-0 Petkov 8’ (assist: Onyeka), 2-0 Campbell 9’, 3-0 Mokwa 46’ (assist: Petkov), 3-1 Schick 77’ (assist: Maza), 3-2 Kofane 90’+1
Elversberg made three changes from their DFB Cup win over Duisburg, with Lukas Pinckert, Leverkusen loanee Francis Onyeka and Mokwa all handed starts. Meanwhile Leverkusen's new head coach Martínez made only one change from the cup, as Mark Flekken replaced Janis Blaswich between the sticks.
Edmond Tapsoba led Leverkusen out as captain for the first time, while Elversberg fielded seven Bundesliga debutants.
Petkov and Campbell stun Leverkusen inside nine minutes
As soon as the whistle went, Elversberg flew out of the blocks. In the eighth minute, Mokwa robustly won the ball off Tapsoba in the box, laid it off for Onyeka, who teed up Petkov. The No.25's low strike then deflected off Loïc Badé and beat Flekken to get the hosts off to a dream start.
Then, not one minute later, Tapsoba's loose pass out from the back fell straight to Campbell, who marched forward and drilled a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner to double his side's lead. The hosts kept pressing and had further chances through Onyeka and Felix Keidel before Leverkusen slowly grew into the game.
García rattles the bar as Leverkusen respond
Leverkusen's best effort of the half came from Aleix García, whose 25-yard free-kick took a deflection off Łukasz Poręba in the wall and clattered against the crossbar, with Bundesliga debutant Afonso Moreira unable to convert the follow-up header.
In trying to protect their side's lead, Maximilian Rohr and Campbell both picked up first-half yellow cards, but Elversberg held their two-goal cushion into the break.
Mokwa makes it three almost immediately after the restart
Elversberg wasted no time in extending their lead after the interval. Straight from kick-off, Onyeka switched play to Petkov, who drilled a low cross towards the near post for Mokwa to slide home in the 46th minute, making it 3-0 to the hosts and sending the home fans into raptures.
Schick and Kofane set up a nervy finish
Leverkusen made a triple change on the hour but only found a way through in the 77th minute, when Ibrahim Maza's shot was diverted home by Patrik Schick's backheel to make it 3-1.
Late substitute Victor Boniface then headed against the bar in stoppage time and Christian Kofane pounced on the rebound to score in the 91st minute, setting up a tense finale.
Nicolas Kristof was booked in the 89th minute but Elversberg held firm, with the German goalkeeper saving from Jonas Hofmann in the closing seconds to seal a historic 3-2 win.
Man of the Match: Lukas Petkov
Petkov scored Elversberg's historic first ever Bundesliga goal in the eighth minute and then teed up Mokwa's third with a well-placed low cross at the start of the second half.
With 40 percent of the fan vote, he was a deserving Man of the Match.
Bundesliga Match Facts
xGoals: Elversberg 1.35 - Leverkusen 2.18
Lowest goal probability: 1:0 by Lukas Petkov (Elvesrberg), 5 per cent
Fantasy Heroes: Patrik Schick (Leverkusen, 223 Points), Ibrahim Maza (Leverkusen, 204 Points), Miguel Gutiérrez (Leverkusen, 158 Points)
