Second-half substitute Balde Keita took advantage of a defensive mistake to score the only goal of the match and, even though Lazio was outplayed at times on the second 45 minutes, their bigger accuracy was enough to win the first leg of the UEFA Champions League play-off with a 1-0 score against a hard-nosed, combative Bayer Leverkusen team.
The game was dominated by Lazi,o as the hosts were the more positive side early on as they had some interesting spells of dominance where they had the majority of the
possession and they also created some of the best scoring chances. The midfield-trio of Marco Parolo, Lucas Biglia and Ogenyi Onazi quickly took control of the middle of the pitch and aided by the attacking runs of Antonio Candreva, the Serie A team looked quite threatening when going forward, although they lacked a bit of accuracy to capitalize on their opportunities.
The Germans go close
The first clear scoring chance arrived in the 26th minute and surprisingly it was for Bayer Leverkusen. After a series of touches, Lars Bender struck the ball from outside the box and his effort went straight to the left post when Etrit Berisha had no chance to reach for it. A few seconds later Miroslav Klose would answer back but the former Germany star also send his ball to the post from very close range.
Lazio continued to dominate the possession in the first half, but Leverkusen did a good job of limiting their chances, although they committed way too many fouls. Wendell, Bernd Leno and Stefan Kießling were all booked due to heavy challenges and even though Lazio often pushed forward and had more possession, the first 45 minutes ended with a scoreless draw.
Second half
Both sides made changes at half-time looking to provide a spark and while Lazio continued to play with a very attacking approach, Leverkusen was certainly comfortable with the way the game was being developed. Karim Bellarabi looked particularly active on the right side of the attack for the Bundesliga side and while he had some interesting movements, he lacked company to threaten the goal defended by Berisha. Lazio, on the other hand, had no problems to move the ball around but they were lacking accuracy once they got into the final third.
Hakan Calhanoglu was close to score on a free kick right around the 60th minute but his effort from outside the box went straight to Berisha who punched the ball away and a few minutes later, a good passing sequence found Admir Mehmedi on the edge of the box but the midfielder sent the ball wide off the right post. Balde Keita - who replaced Klose at the half-time break - answered for Lazio in between of those two sequences after capturing a through ball and dribbling inside the box, but his shot went sailing over the bar when Leno was rushing out to close the striker’s angle.
Leverkusen found the back of the net in the 69th when a low cross was capitalized by Bellarabi but the goal was ruled out due to an apparent offside from Stefan Kießling although the German forward never got in contact with the ball. Lazio wasted no time to answer back and Felipe Anderson – the team’s most dangerous player overall – won a duel on the left flank, crossed the ball and found Keita but Leno was magnificent to deny the Senegalese the first goal of the match.
Lazio take the lead late on
Keita finally got his revenge in the 77th minute. A mistake from Kyriakos Papadopoulos allowed him enough space to start a vicious sprint and even though 20-year-old was under heavy pressure from Jonathan Tah, he managed to strike a right-footed shot that went into the back of the net and next to Leno’s right hand post to give the Italians the advantage late in the second half.
Leverkusen tried to move their lines forward in the final 10 minutes but Lazio was smart to sit back to defend the result, especially considering how superior the German side had been on some stretches of the second half. Neither team was able to offer a lot of dangerous movements and Leverkusen tried to make things happen towards the end with the entrances of Julian Brandt and Robbie Kruse, but the Bundesliga outfit was unable to penetrate Lazio’s crowded defensive line. The hosts lost Stefan De Vrij in the final minutes due to an injury after a collision and it remains to be seen if the Dutch international will be able to play in the coming matches.
The swedish referee Jonas Eriksson blew his whistle after the stoppage time was completed and the game ended with a 1-0 win for Lazio and even though the game should’ve ended on a draw, Lazio was smart to capitalize on their chances and they ended securing a one-goal advantage that could prove to be key for the second leg of tie that will be played on Germany at BayArena next week.