Bailey dedicates assists to newborn

Leon Bailey, back from witnessing the birth of his first child, dedicated his two assists in Bayer Leverkusen's win to the infant yesterday.

Bayer kept their campaign for a spot in next season's UEFA Champions League alive with a 3-1 home win over Rhine rivals Cologne in the German Bundesliga.

Bailey, who played 64 minutes in the game, had an early impact when he played a cross into the box after a corner kick. It found Sven Bender on the right hand side of the area and he put away his left footed shot in the seventh minute to give Bayer the lead.

That lead was doubled in the 40th minute when Bailey found Kai Havertz, who beat Timo Horn in the Cologne goal with a left footed shot from the centre of the box to the top left corner to make it 2-0.

Sebastiaan Bornauw got Cologne's lone goal in the 59th minute, before Moussa Diaby made it 3-1 in the 83rd.

Leverkusen are in fourth place with 60 points, one ahead of fifth placed Borussia Monchengladbach, and three behind third placed RB Leipzig. All teams have completed 32 of their 38 games in the Bundesliga.

Important victory

Bailey went to Instagram after the game to share his delight with the rest of the world.

"[Two assists] for my boy. Important victory for the team," he said.

That was followed by comments on the post from some of Bailey's famous friends.

His Jamaica teammate Bobby Reid responded "Congrats bro", while local artiste Chris Martin commented "Power moves my G!"

Jamaican-born Manchester City and England winger Raheem Sterling, who scored in his club's 3-0 win over Arsenal on their return to action in the English Premier League yesterday, also responded.

"Trouble [with two fire emojis]," he said.

Bailey's girlfriend, Stephanie Hope, gave birth to the infant in Germany on Sunday. While delighted that the 22-year-old has now entered fatherhood, his agent and adoptive father Craig Butler said the baby marks the next generation of his Phoenix All Stars Football Academy. But he would not tell the name of the child, saying that the privilege of that announcement to the world should be left to the parents.