Super Eagles forward Nathan Tella made a significant contribution to Bayer Leverkusen’s return to winning ways in the Bundesliga with a 2-0 victory over Darmstadt. Leverkusen’s triumph extended their remarkable unbeaten start to the season to a club-record 29 matches.
After being held to a draw by Borussia Mönchengladbach in their previous fixture, Bayer Leverkusen aimed to bounce back strongly against Darmstadt. The visitors displayed early dominance and missed a chance to take the lead within the first 20 minutes when Adam Hložek narrowly missed the target after being set up by Alejandro Grimaldo.
However, Grimaldo redeemed himself by providing the breakthrough for Bayer Leverkusen. His precise cross from the left found Nathan Tella at the back post, who headed home to open the scoring. Tella’s inclusion on the right flank over Jeremie Frimpong proved to be a wise decision by Leverkusen’s management.
As the match progressed, Leverkusen continued to control proceedings and eventually doubled their lead through Tella’s second goal of the game. Florian Wirtz slid the ball to Tella on the right, and the forward unleashed a powerful strike that found the back of the net.
Darmstadt struggled to respond to falling two goals behind and were fortunate not to concede more as Leverkusen pressed for additional goals. Leverkusen’s victory sets the stage for an eagerly anticipated clash with Bayern Munich in the upcoming fixture, heightening the intensity of the Bundesliga title race.
Nathan Tella could not make it with the Super Eagles squad, who have qualified for the semi-final of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations, despite only getting called up in the final international window before the commencement of the AFCON at the end of last year.
Meanwhile, Darmstadt finds themselves at the bottom of the table, six points adrift of safety, after extending their winless streak to 13 matches.
