Bayer Leverkusen continued their chase of league leaders Bayern Munich with a 2-0 away win at Holstein Kiel in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Xabi Alonso decided to start Super Eagles forward Victor Boniface from the bench as they sought to close the back on leaders Bayern.
Patrik Schick got the champions underway as early as the 9th minute with a strike as they asserted their early dominance.
Amine Adli, restored back to the starting line up, then made in 2-0 just before half-time as Leverkusen took complete charge of the game.
Boniface was later introduced into the game in the 83rd minute for Patrik Schick, but he was unable to add to his Bundesliga tally.
There will be no further goals in the game, but Xabi Alonso will be proud of his team's performance as they closed the gap on Bayern to five points, even though the Bavarians have a game in hand.
Boniface's performance in numbers as Leverkusen beat Kiel
The 24-year-old Nigerian played for 11 minutes, but was unable to score to add to his seven Bundesliga goals.
He had one shot off target and was successful in the only dribbling attempt he made.
Boniface has a total of seven touches of the ball as he made just two out of the four passes he attempted for a 50 % success rate.
For duels, he went in for four aerial duels and won two while for ground duels, he won one of the two he attempted.
Another Nigerian, Nathan Tella was not dressed for the game as he is currently out injured.
