Jonas Hofmann scored twice in two first-half minutes as Bayer Leverkusen made it three wins from three in the Europa League with a 2-0 victory at OFI Crete. Hofmann poached the opener on 35 minutes and struck again on 37, and Leverkusen's total control — 30 shots to OFI's five — kept them perfect at the top of the league phase.
Hofmann's two-minute double settles it
For half an hour in Heraklion, OFI Crete held firm. The Greeks, who beat Hoffenheim on the opening night, defended their box in numbers and even tested Janis Blaswich through Thiago Nuss. But Leverkusen's pressure was relentless — Malik Tillman had already seen a close-range effort saved by Klidaras Lilo's foot on 33 minutes — and on 35 the dam broke. Afonso Moreira's powerful long-range shot was parried by Lilo straight to Hofmann, who tucked home from a few yards out, as Bundesliga.com's live blog reported.
Two minutes later it was 2-0, and the contest was effectively over. Tillman poked the ball into Hofmann outside the box and the Germany international struck first time into the near bottom corner — a finish of real class from a player rolling back the years. OFI, who had been beaten by a Patrik Schick-inspired Leverkusen side in this fixture's reverse storyline on Matchday 2 when Lech Poznań were routed 4-0, had no answer.
OFI coach Christos Kontis had set his side up in a 3-4-3 — Lilo behind Konstantinos Kostoulas, Athanasios Poungouras and Tomislav Križmanić, with Andreas Bouchalakis anchoring midfield and Kenan Kodro leading the line — but by half-time the game plan was already in survival mode, and the home crowd's early noise had given way to anxious silence.
Lilo limits the damage as Leverkusen cruise
Hofmann chased a hat-trick after the break, cutting inside on 50 minutes and bending an effort that Lilo punched around the post, and the OFI goalkeeper was the busiest man on the pitch as Leverkusen racked up 14 shots on target. Aleix García, booked in the first half, was denied by Lilo after a Lucas Vázquez cutback and then chanced an audacious lob from halfway that floated over. At the other end Charalampos Kostoulas forced Blaswich's only real save of the second half, as Sports Mole's match centre recorded in a 2-0 final score with no red cards.
Carles Martínez's Leverkusen — with Schick leading the line after his record-breaking display in the weekend win over Freiburg — managed the game with 62 per cent possession and the air of a side that expects to go deep in this competition.
So what: Leverkusen perfect, OFI must respond
Leverkusen sit on nine points from three matches with a plus-eight goal difference, top of the league phase and already all but assured of a knockout place — the question now is whether they hold a top-eight spot and skip the play-offs entirely. They host winless Marseille on Matchday 4, a fixture that on current form looks like four from four.
OFI stay on three points, from the Hoffenheim win, with defeats by Rennes and Leverkusen either side of it. The Greeks travel to Hapoel Be'er Sheva on Matchday 4 in a game that already feels must-win for their play-off hopes: their home form was supposed to be their weapon, and Leverkusen have just shown the rest of Europe how to disarm it.
Beyond the Final Whistle: there are away wins, and there are statements. Thirty shots, 14 on target, two goals in two minutes from a 34-year-old playmaker who was supposed to be a squad player — Leverkusen are playing like a team that has decided the Europa League is theirs to lose. Hofmann was magnificent, but the system is the star: everyone knows their job, and OFI were simply outclassed. Are Leverkusen the team to beat in this season's Europa League? Let us know in the comments.
