

The 24-year-old was stood down from training last week as he explored a transfer to play alongside Cristiano Ronaldo at Saudi side Al-Nassr. The deal fell through and Boniface was given a surprise start by coach Xabi Alonso.
Boniface, who had not played for Leverkusen since injuring his thigh on international duty with Nigeria in November, opened the scoring in the 15th minute. Collecting a ball from Alex Grimaldo to the right of goal, Boniface blasted a powerful left-foot shot through the hands of visiting goalkeeper Luca Philipp.
Alonso's men however held on to stay in touch with Bayern, who visit Leverkusen's BayArena in two weeks. Praising his side's "total control", Alonso said the successful return would do Boniface good and admitted his side have "some good competition in the striker position".