Nathan Tella made his Bundesliga return on Saturday, coming off the bench as Bayer Leverkusen survived a seven-goal contest to beat FSV Mainz 05 4-3 at the MEWA Arena.
The Nigeria international had been absent for Leverkusen’s opening four league fixtures of the season as he worked his way back from a back injury.
Prior to the Mainz match, Tella had played only once in the current campaign. He featured for the final 25 minutes of Leverkusen’s 4-0 DFB-Pokal win over Wehen Wiesbaden.
The former Hale End Academy player used the three-week international break to complete his recovery and was included in Leverkusen’s Bundesliga squad for the first time this term.
Carles Martínez sent Tella on with 15 minutes left of regulation time, replacing Afonso Moreira as Leverkusen held a 4-2 advantage.
The visitors had initially built a two-goal cushion through Robert Andrich and Patrik Schick, but Anthony Caci struck twice before half-time to bring Mainz back level.
Jarell Quansah and Moussa Diaby put Leverkusen back in control after the interval. Benedict Hollerbach scored a late goal for Mainz, although it was not enough to deny the 2023-24 Bundesliga champions a 4-3 victory.
Fellow Nigerian attacker Victor Boniface remained among the unused substitutes for Leverkusen.
