By Adeola Akanbi.
Nigeria’s Victor Boniface showed his impressive qualities once again to help his Belgian side, Royale Union Saint-Gilliose snatched a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Europa League showdown at Bay Arena in Leverkusen, Germany.
The former Bodo/Glimt forward opened the scoring in the 51st minute with a precise finish after receiving a pass in the box from Maltese striker Teddy Teuma and whipped his shot past Lukas Hradecky and moving his way to the top of UEL scoring charts with his six goals in as many games.
Former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder and current Bayern Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso applauded the qualities of Victor Boniface when asked what he felt about the 22-year-old performance in the first leg of their clash and his overall performance in the Uefa Europa League this season.
” He has done very well in Europa League, in the group stage as well. Today we have seen that he is a good striker. Strong, fast, and good on the ball.
” He is a very very important player for Saint-Gilliose and we know that. So for our defenders ahead of next week, they must be ready and they will be ready”, said Alonso.
The Spanish manager was further asked if Boniface will perform in the Bundesliga in case a chance to move to Germany materialize.
“He is a good player,” said Alonso.
The second leg of the quarterfinals clash will be played on Thursday next week in Belgium and both teams will endeavor at the expense of the other team to make it to the last four of Europe’s second-tier competition.
