Late strikes by Bayer Leverkusen substitutes Jonas Hofmann and Victor Boniface earned the Bundesliga leaders a 2-0 home win over West Ham United in their Europa League quarterfinal first leg.
Leverkusen, still without a loss across all competitions this season, outshot West Ham 33 to 1 on the night and produced two late goals to send the BayArena crowd into euphoria.
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The visitors’ keeper Lukasz Fabianski pulled off a string of saves to keep the scores level at the break before Hofmann gave Leverkusen the lead in the 83rd minute and Boniface, who has only just returned from injury in recent weeks, doubled the advantage in stoppage time with a header.
Xabi Alonso’s rampant Leverkusen side lead the Bundesliga by 16 points over second-placed Bayern Munich and can seal the title with a win at home against Werder Bremen on Sunday.
Portuguese champions Benfica claimed a 2-1 home win over Olympique de Marseille through goals by Rafa Silva and Argentine forward Angel Di Maria.
The second legs will be played next Thursday.
Information from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this story.