PSV Eindhoven claimed their first Champions League point of the campaign as they recovered from a defensive howler to draw 1-1 at Bayer Leverkusen.

Peter Bosz had to field a depleted front line, with Ricardo Pepi, Alassane Plea and Myron Boadu all ruled out with injuries, while Armando Obispo was surprisingly preferred to Ryan Flamingo in defence.

The visitors were celebrating in the fourth minute when Ivan Perisic headed in from close range, but a VAR check revealed that the Croatian was standing a fraction offside when Dennis Man played in the ball.

Leverkusen responded with a shot against the post from Alex Grimaldo, before former AZ Alkmaar striker Ernest Poku should have given the hosts the lead but shot too close to Matej Kovar.

Grimaldo was constantly testing the PSV defence with passes from deep, while former Eindhoven favourite Malik Tillman was finding plenty of space in midfield. But it was the visitors who had the best chance before the break when Perisic screwed a shot wide from Man’s sliding pass.

Schouten blunder

Leverkusen’s opening goal in the 65th minute was a gift from PSV midfielder Jerdy Schouten, whose slack pass to Obispo in front of his own goal presented Christian Michel Kofane with a simple tap-in.

PSV fought their way back into the game and equalised seven minutes later when Guus Til found Ismael Saibari with a cutback from the byline and the midfielder beat Mark Flekken with a fierce shot into the top corner.

The visitors were the stronger side in the final 20 minutes, with a shot from Til cleared off the goal-line. Grimaldo almost denied them at the other end in the closing minutes when he was put clean through on goal, but his shot was too weak to pass Kovar.

PSV’s next group stage match is at home to Italian champions Napoli on October 21.