Tella always dangerous on one-on-one -Alonso

Tella always dangerous on one-on-one -Xabi Alonso

Coach Xabi Alonso has heaped praises on his summer signing Nigeria’s Nathan Tella following his superb display at the weekend as Bayer Leverkusen moved within touching distance of a first Bundesliga title by beating 10-man Union Berlin.

Leverkusen was frustrated in Berlin by several saves from Union keeper Frederik Ronnow, before the breakthrough came in first-half stoppage time after Robin Gosens saw a second yellow card for scything down Nathan Tella.

Florian Wirtz, then calmed his nerves as he converted the penalty, which gave Xabi Alonso's side a ninth successive win to stretch their lead over Bayern Munich to 16 points with six games remaining.

Speaking after the game: “Nathan played very well. His one-on-ones are always dangerous. The way he repeatedly attacked Gosens, who already had a yellow card, was very good. He deserves to play. With him and Jeremie Frimpong, we have good competition on the right side, which was very important for this season.”

Meanwhile, Tella who reportedly joined Dei Werkself on a five-year deal for around £20 million has scored five goals in 19 league games. He showed last season in the English Championship that he could be even more dangerous. With 19 goals in 45 games, he almost single-handedly shot Burnley to the second division championship.