Off the wire
• Rwanda win East African Military Games  • Kenya's Yego ruffles javelin throw history, wins gold in Beijing  • Uganda names squad ahead of AFCON qualifier away to Comoros  • AIBA rules out two Ugandan boxers for 2015 All Africa Games  • Uruguayan footballer shot during theft  • FARC rejects Colombian govt plan for endorsing peace agreements  • UN chief welcomes signing of South Sudan's president on peace deal  • 1st LD Writethru: Washington's National Zoo says one panda cub has died  • Feature: Judge gives Colorado mass murderer maximum 3,318 additional years in prison  • China, U.S. should stay focused on what really matters: Chinese ambassador  
You are here: 　 Home

Leverkusen beat Lazio 3-1 in UEFA Champions League play-offs

Xinhua, August 27, 2015 Adjust font size:

Bayer Leverkusen overpowered Lazio 3-0 at the second leg of the play-offs on home soil to book their ticket for the UEFA Champions League group stage on Wednesday.

The "Werkself" overturned the 1-0 first-leg loss as they edged Lazio 3-0 at the second leg to qualify for the third straight time for the UEFA Champions League group stage.

Hakan Calhanoglu, Admir Mehmedi and Karim Bellarabi scored the decisive goals for the home side in front of 28.222 spectators.

The hosts took the reins from the kick-off against visitors, who defended deep to lurk for counter attacks. Hakan Calhanoglu unleashed two long-range efforts to test Lazio goalkeeper Etrit Berisha as Leverkusen lacked in penetration to overcome the visitors' well-positioned bulwark.

As the match progressed, Leverkusen nearly broke the deadlock with 25 minutes into the encounter but Stefan Kiessling's header was denied by the woodwork. Lazio remained dangerous on the counters and were almost successful but Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno denied Balde Diao Keita twice.

However, Hakan Calhanoglu scored the aggregate leveler six minutes before the break as Lazio failed to clear the ball from their penalty box. Hence, Calhanoglu utilized a rebound to break the deadlock from inside the box into the far post corner.

After the restart, Leverkusen caught a fairy-tale start as Admir Mehmedi doubled the lead with a hammer into the near post corner following a through ball by Karim Bellarabi at the 48th minute. Meanwhile, things went from bad to worse for the Italian's as Mauricio was sent off after his second yellow card of the evening.

Thus, Leverkusen removed all doubts and sealed the deal late in the game when Bellarabi made use of a square pass by Julian Brandt to tap in the 3-0 lead into the open goal with two minutes remaining in the match.

With the 3-1 victory on aggregate Bayer Leverkusen make their 10th appearance in the UEFA Champions League overall.

The draw for the group stage will be held at Monaco's Grimaldi Forum on Thursday. Endi