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Bayer Leverkusen beat BATE Borisov 4-1 in UEFA Champions League

Xinhua, September 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Three second-half goals secured Bayer Leverkusen a 4-1 victory over BATE Borisov and a winning start into UEFA Champions League' s Group E on Wednesday.

The "Werkself" start off with a victory into their Champions League campaign after beating Belarusian outfit BATE 4-1 at the opening game of Group E on home soil in front of 24,280 spectators.

Roger Schmidt' s men caught an ideal start into the encounter as Admir Mehmedi broke the deadlock with just four minutes into the game. Despite Leverkusen' s dominant performance, the Belarusian visitors were able to pull one back just nine minutes later, as Nemanja Milunovic restored parity with a deflected header following a corner, against the run of the game.

BATE' s equalizer had a visible impact since the hosts lost their rhythm. Thus, Leverkusen had to wait after the restart to grab the lead for the second time when Hakan Calhanoglu unleashed a hammer, which got deflected unstoppable for BATE Borisov goalkeeper Sergei Chernik at the 47th minute.

With the 2-1 lead behind, Leverkusen picked up the pace to establish a two-goal lead through new arrival Javier Hernandez, who capitalized on deep forward pass by teammate Kevin Kampl to mark his first goal for his new club with 59 minutes played.

Bayer Leverkusen kept it bowling and added another goal to their lead as Turkish international Hakan Calhanoglu converted an awarded handball penalty to seal his brace and the first win for his team.

"We made way too many mistakes. Our opponent pressured us relentlessly, especially in our defence," BATE head coach Aleksandr Yermakovich said after the game.

With the win, Leverkusen sew up important points with Roma and Barcelona in the same group. However, Bayer Leverkusen jump on the first place of Champions League' s Group E with three points, followed by Barcelona and Roma both with one point, and BATE Borisov with zero points on the last spot. Endi