Lees-Melou scores stunner as Brest hold Leverkusen to draw in Champions League
Goalmouth action was at a premium in the opening stages of this clash, with European debutants Brest keen to keep things tight against the German champions.
They could only do that until midway through the first half though, with a defensive calamity causing the Brest defence to part like the Red Sea as Jonas Hofmann found the gap, threading the ball through for Florian Wirtz, who arrowed an effort into the corner.
Wirtz almost bettered that strike soon after when he danced through three Brest challenges on the edge of the area but his effort was smartly stopped by Marco Bizot.
Brest’s response to falling behind was rather muted, but shortly before half-time they plucked something out of nowhere to draw level.
Pierre Lees-Melou provided the moment of magic, powering home a volley from the edge of the area after being picked out by Mahdi Camara.
With an evident eye for the spectacular, Lees-Melou again came close to a goal for the UCL ages, but the former Norwich City man’s curling effort flew inches over the crossbar.
It was Brest doing most of the running for a late winner, and they manufactured a sighting of goal when Camara unleashed a volley from the edge of the area, but his effort was helped over the bar by Matej Kovar.
Leverkusen have earned the title of ‘late goal kings’ over the last year, so the French side were never likely to be resting easy in the closing stages despite the German outfit’s evident lack of guile in the final third this evening.
There wasn’t to be another late show for Leverkusen tonight though, as they seemed rather content to take the point back to Leverkusen, which could be deemed a rather strange decision with games against Liverpool, Inter Milan, and Atlético Madrid still to come.
Brest meanwhile, have a slightly easier run of fixtures on paper, and a return of seven points from a possible nine in their maiden UCL campaign certainly isn’t to be sniffed at.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Pierre Lees-Melou (Brest)