Super Eagles forward Nathan Tella has revealed the thinking behind his goal in Bayer Leverkusen’s 4-0 victory over SV Wehen Wiesbaden in the DFB-Pokal on Saturday.
Tella effectively sealed the win for the Bundesliga side in the 69th minute after Leverkusen recovered possession in midfield and quickly launched a counter-attack.
Two Leverkusen players managed to escape challenges and keep the move alive before the ball reached Tella, who finished the attack to put his side three goals ahead.
Speaking after the game, Tella explained that his goal was the product of movements Leverkusen had repeatedly worked on in training.
Obviously we’ve worked a lot on the movements he wants the forwards to make and I knew that once I got in that position he was only going to either cross it across the goal or he was going to cut it back,” Tella said.
The Nigerian also credited his understanding with Ibrahim Maza, suggesting that the midfielder recognised the run he wanted to make during the attack.
When you play with someone like him you can see he knew what I wanted,” Tella added.
Tella admitted the first half had been difficult and physically demanding, but Leverkusen eventually took control of the contest.
Patrik Schick opened the scoring in the 43rd minute before Lucas Vázquez doubled the advantage shortly after the restart. Tella then added the third before Christian Kofane completed the scoring in the 79th minute.
The victory sends Leverkusen through to the second round of the DFB-Pokal, with Tella’s performance providing another positive moment for the Nigerian forward.
