Super Eagles forward Nathan Tella has revealed that anger spurred Bayer Leverkusen to their first Bundesliga win of the season, following a 3-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, Footynaija.com reports.
A pair of sublime free kicks from Spanish full-back Alejandro Grimaldo sandwiched Patrick Schick’s accurate spot-kick to hand Bayer Leverkusen their first win of the season under the guidance of new manager Kasper Hjulmand.
Hjulmand’s appointment became necessary after Xabi Alonso’s replacement Erik ten Hag led Die Werkself to a pair of disappointing defeats in their opening two games of the season, prompting his sack.
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Speaking to ESPN after the game, Tella revealed that the team, not satisfied with their poor start, was determined to get a good result. He also credited the new manager for giving the whole squad a lift upon his arrival.
“As a team, I don’t want to say embarrassed but we were angry at ourselves,” the Super Eagles star said.
“Because, we know how good we can be. Some of the players who are still here and the new players who have come in know the quality of the team and we weren’t able to show but I think Kasper coming in has given us a lift.”
After finishing second and losing their Bundesliga crown to Bayern Munich last season, Bayer Leverkusen are expected to be one of the teams that will challenge the Bavarians this season.
When quizzed whether the Bay Arena club was ready to put up a fight for the German top flight crown after registering their first win of the season, Tella chose the cautious route with his response.
“I think we want to focus on ourselves, we don’t want to get carried away after our first win of the season. But we are on the right track,” he said.
“It was a game which we needed to show a reaction and get a big result and today we were able to do it at home in front of our home fans.”
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