Leverkusen ease past Qarabag to keep perfect record in Europa League

Berlin, Oct 27 (IANS) Bayer Leverkusen showed no mercy towards Qarabag and secured a 5-1 victory courtesy of Alejandro Grimaldo's brace to maintain their perfect winning record in the UEFA Europa League group stage.

The Werkself had a fairy tale start in front of the home crowd and opened the scoring after just six minutes when Florian Wirtz benefited from Grimaldo's deflected cross to slot home.

The visitors restored parity out of the blue in the 16th minute after Tural Bayramov kept his nerves from the spot to convert a penalty, Xinhua reports.

Leverkusen remained unimpressed and pushed forward as Victor Boniface pulled wide from a promising position while Amine Adli rattled the woodwork moments later.

The hosts' efforts eventually paid off at the half-hour mark as Wirtz's assist allowed Grimaldo to make it 2-1 on the scoreboard before Boniface hammered home from 20 meters seven minutes later.

Leverkusen sparked to life again early in the second half and established a 4-1 advantage after Grimaldo wrapped up his brace following Wirtz's cutback pass.

The hosts were still not done with the scoring as three minutes later, Edmond Tapsoba finished off a counterattack to put the game to bed.

With the result, Leverkusen snatched its third victory in as many games to stay atop the standings in Group H, followed by Qarabag, Molde and Hacken.

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