Xabi Alonso has hailed Victor Boniface, Nathan Tella and other second substitutes whose impacts helped Bayer Leverkusen defeat West Ham.

Leverkusen continued their impressive campaign this season as they beat West Ham 2-0 in the first leg ot the Europa League on Thursday night.

Tella and Boniface came on in the 67th and 76th minutes respectively.

Jonas Hofmann, who came with 13 minutes left, had given Leverkusen the lead on 83 minutes, Boniface then added the second goal on 91 minutes.

It was Boniface’s first goal since returning from a three months injury.

Speaking after the hard-fought win, Alonso singled out the substitutes for the role they played in the win.

“We are happy with the result and the performance,” Alonso said after the match.

“It was not an easy game to create chances in. They played very deep. We waited for our moment, it was a little late

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