A stoppage-time goal by Florian Wirtz secured a 3-2 win for champion Bayer Leverkusen at Borussia Moenchengladbach in the Bundesliga season opener on Friday, extending its unbeaten league run into the new campaign.
Leverkusen was awarded a penalty deep into stoppage time for Ko Itakura’s foul on substitute Amine Adli and Wirtz scored on a rebound to earn the visitor the three points.
Granit Xhaka opened the scoring for Leverkusen in the 12th minute with a powerful strike from outside the box before Wirtz doubled its lead in the 38th on a rebound.
But defender Nico Elvedi pulled one back for Gladbach just before the hour mark from close range and Tim Kleindienst nutmegged Leverkusen defender Edmond Tapsoba to level for the host five minutes from time.
Leverkusen became the first team ever to go unbeaten across an entire Bundesliga campaign last season and has now extended that streak to 35 games.
In Bundesliga history, only two teams enjoyed longer undefeated runs across multiple campaigns: Bayern Munich with 53 games from 2012 to 2014 and Hamburg SV (36 games from 1982 to 1983).
Leverkusen, who beat VfB Stuttgart on penalties to win the German Supercup on Saturday, moved in front through Xhaka early on as the Switzerland midfielder grabbed a rebound and smashed the ball inside a top corner.
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Jeremie Frimpong broke into the box with the ball later in the half and Alejandro Grimaldo’s close-range attempt was saved by Gladbach keeper Jonas Omlin before Wirtz landed a rebound to increase the advantage.
But Gladbach, who narrowly avoided relegation playoffs last season to finish 14th on 34 points, stood up to the title-holder and Kleindienst thought he pulled one back for the hosts just before halftime.
The forward bundled the ball in with a diving header but his goal was disallowed for a foul following a VAR review.
Gladbach eventually made it past Leverkusen’s defence through Elvedi in the 59th minute after goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky denied his header, and Kleindienst earned his share late in the game - a goal that stood following a VAR review for possible offside.
The game was interrupted early in the second half when the field was filled with smoke after fans started using pyrotechnics, halting the play for just under 10 minutes.
Leverkusen next host RB Leipzig on August 31 while Gladbach travel to VfL Bochum.
Stuttgart, who finished second last season, visit Freiburg on Saturday while Bayern Munich kick off its campaign at VfL Wolfsburg on Sunday.
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