Super Eagles stars Victor Boniface and Nathan Tella helped Bayer Leverkusen to their first German Cup title in 31 years after a hard-earned 1-0 victory over Kaiserslautern, Soccernet.ng reports.
Die Werkself locked horns with Bundesliga 2 side Kaiserslautern at the Olympiastadion on Saturday night for a chance to win the German Cup for the first time since 1993.
Bayer Leverkusen were the overwhelming favorites, but they were still hurting from their disappointing 3-0 loss to Atalanta in the Europa League final in midweek, which ended their 52-game unbeaten streak.
Coach Xabi Alonso did not start Boniface and Tella in that fixture, and he did same against Kaiserslautern as both players started from the bench.
As expected, Bayer Leverkusen dominated the game from the blast of the whistle, and it took them only 16 minutes to find the net courtesy of Granit Xhaka. Unfortunately for them, Ivorian defender Odilon Kossounou was sent off late in the first half. Nonetheless, they managed to hold on to their lead, and it ended 1-0.
Boniface was on the bench for the entire fixture, which Tella made a cameo appearance. The German Cup was a trophy that had always eluded Bayer Leverkusen. They got to the final three times in the last 24 years, but they failed to win any. However, this year, they broke the jinx.
This season, Boniface and Tella have enjoyed a lot of success with Die Werkself, and their trophy ensured that the club won its first-ever brace.