Leverkusen held to goalless draw by Kharkiv

Berlin, Sep 21 – Leverkusen and Metalist Kharkiv started with one point in their UEFA Europa League adventure following a goalless draw in Group K at BayArena.

Metalist Kharkiv suffered two heavy defeats against Leverkusen two seasons ago but on Thursday they played on an equal footing against the hosts that failed to exploit their goal scoring opportunities in the second-half, reports Xinhua.

Both sides staged a lively first-half as Kharkiv’s Jonathan Cristaldo forced a parry by Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno from a sharp angle and Renato Augusto’s effort from inside the box was blocked by Metalist goalkeeper Oleksandr Groyainov.

In the second-half Leverkusen were more active whilst Kharkiv fastened on counters.

Leverkusen’s Karim Bellarabi had the winner on his foot twice but Groyainov parried his two efforts, in addition Andre Schuerrle rattled the corner of the goalpost with a rebound.

Rosenborg now occupies first position in Group K, followed by Kharkiv, Leverkusen and Rapid Wien.

“My team made a good impression but they lacked in resoluteness, ” Leverkusen coach Sascha Lewandowski said.