LEVERKUSEN, Germany (Reuters) -Bayer Leverkusen battled past strugglers VfL Bochum 3-1 thanks to two second-half goals on Friday to cut the gap with Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich to three points.
Goals from Victor Boniface on the hour and Amine Adli in the 87th minute sealed the win and lifted the second-placed reigning champions, who face third-tier Arminia Bielefeld in the German Cup semi-finals on Tuesday, to 59 points with seven games left.
Bayern, on 62 points, are in action on Saturday at home to St Pauli. Bochum are 16th and in the relegation playoff spot.
"It was really a tough game despite this result," Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso told a press conference. "Bochum were disciplined, well-organised.
"It may not have been a super-spectacular performance but we remained patient, stayed calm and if we do that we will get a chance for the next seven games. We will try to win them and see what happens."
He started with two strikers -- Boniface and Patrik Schick -- as the injured Florian Wirtz watched from the stands.
Leverkusen took the lead in the 20th minute when Aleix Garcia found enough space outside the box to drill home.
Bochum, who have beaten Bayern and Borussia Dortmund in the league in the past few weeks, bounced back six minutes later with Felix Passlack firing in on the rebound after a save by Leverkusen keeper Lukas Hradecky.
The hosts had to wait until the 60th minute to go back in front when Nigeria international Boniface was left unmarked at the far post and pushed the ball over the line with his knee for his eighth league goal of the season.
Jeremie Frimpong came close to putting Leverkusen further ahead but narrowly missed the target after a textbook counter-attack in the 78th before Boniface had the ball in the net two minutes later only to be ruled offside.
Adli eventually made sure of the three points with a fine finish from an Exequiel Palacios assist before Granit Xhaka rattled both posts with a stoppage-time shot to cap an entertaining evening for the home fans.
"So it was a super win today and we will wait for the results on the weekend. We did our job and from tomorrow we start thinking about the Cup," said Alonso.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Ken Ferris)
