After coming close to winning the German Bundesliga title on five occasions, light seems to finally be at the end of the tunnel for Bayer Leverkusen after Nigerian Nathan Tella helped them secure a hard-fought 1-0 win over Union Berlin on Saturday to move within just one win of their maiden league triumph, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Die Werkself were Bundesliga runners-up in 1996/97, 1998/99, 1999/2000, 2001/02 and 2010/11.
Leverkusen were far from the exciting side they have been this season in the encounter against Union Berlin but were in control throughout the match and could have been ahead earlier had Alex Grimaldo not spurned a good chance from Tella’s pull-back.
But in the 48th minute, Florian Wirtz grabbed the match winner from the spot but it was the effort of Tella, who starred in the encounter as a wing-back that grabbed the headlines for his contribution in the build up to the goal.
The goal was the 116th by Leverkusen in 41 games this season and they are 16 points clear of outgoing champions Bayern Munich in the table.
Tella’s mazy runs down the right flank saw Robin Gosens receive a second yellow card for an unnecessary challenge on him near the corner flag and Leverkusen won a penalty from the subsequent free-kick when Piero Hincapie’s shot was deflected off the arm of Christopher Trimmel.
The Nigerian created three scoring chances, has nine successful take-ons, 87 per cent pass completion and nine tackles in the encounter to earn himself the man-of-the-match award after the game.
This was not the first time the Nigerian winger had inspired Leverkusen to victory this season, following his arrival from English Championship club, Southampton, for a reported £20m last summer.
Tella has six goals and three assists in 29 games for Die Werkself this season.
In Leverkusen’s first game in 2024, an away clash against back-to-back German Cup winners RB Leipzig on January 20, Xabi Alonso’s side went one goal down through Xavi Simons in the first seven minutes.
However, substitute Tella made an instant impact off the bench, scoring the equaliser off an Alex Grimaldo cross two minutes into the second half as the game eventually ended 3-2 in favour of the league leaders.
The game against Darmstadt on February 3 is perhaps Tella’s best so far as he got his first Bundesliga start and singlehandedly won Leverkusen all three points as he bagged a brace in the fixture.
Reacting to his side’s win over Union Berlin on Saturday, Tella told Eurosport, “One more, one more win and we are champions!”
If Leverkusen beat Werder Bremen next Sunday they will officially win the Bundesliga for the first time in their 120 years of existence.
They also remain on course for a remarkable treble, having reached the German Cup final last Wednesday by thrashing Fortuna Dusseldorf 4-0 and they now prepare for the visit of West Ham in the Europa League quarter-final first leg on Thursday.