Diaby's wonder strike ends three-year Bundesliga wait as Leverkusen edge Mainz in 4-3 thriller
Moussa Diaby curled home his first goal since returning to Bayer Leverkusen — and his first in the Bundesliga for 1,278 days — as they edged a topsy-turvy 4-3 victory at Mainz on Saturday, holding off a second-half fightback after racing two goals clear inside nine minutes.
Diaby, who rejoined Leverkusen last month following spells at Aston Villa and Al-Ittihad, received Afonso Moreira's pass in a central area, got the ball out of his feet and curled a sumptuous strike into the top-left corner beyond Alexander Schwolow in the 65th minute to ultimately put the contest beyond Mainz's reach.
Leverkusen fly out of the traps, Mainz roar back
Carles Martinez's side, who went into the international break on the back of a 2-0 win over RB Leipzig, came racing out of the traps and went two goals up inside nine minutes. Robert Andrich opened the scoring in spectacular fashion, thumping a volley into the roof of the net when Mainz could only half-clear a fifth-minute corner.
Patrik Schick then finished clinically after Ibrahim Maza cleverly dummied Aleix Garcia's pass through to him.
Mainz slowly grew into the game and halved the arrears in the 33rd minute when Anthony Caci prodded home, having reacted quickest after Andrich blocked Eric Martel's header. Caci then got the hosts level four minutes before half-time, finishing across Mark Flekken after being picked out by the impressive Nadiem Amiri.
Quansah restores the lead before Diaby's moment
Amiri fired wide from the first shot of the second half, but Martinez's team talk clearly had the desired effect as Leverkusen restored their lead through Jarell Quansah. Amid a goalmouth scramble, the England international saw a fierce strike brilliantly saved by Schwolow — but when the ball bounced back to him, he looped a header into the far corner.
Mainz came out of their shell in search of another fightback, but Diaby extended Leverkusen's lead further with the game's standout moment. And despite Mainz substitute Benedict Hollerbach popping up with a predatory finish in stoppage time, Leverkusen would not be pegged back for a second time.
Diaby ends the long wait in style
Diaby's goal was his first in the Bundesliga since scoring against Eintracht Frankfurt in April 2023 — a wait of 1,278 days that spanned his spells in England with Aston Villa and in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ittihad. It was also his first goal since returning to the club, where his reintegration has been deliberately gradual: he came off the bench in the 67th minute of September's 4-0 win over Union Berlin.
"He's settled in very well. I'm only just getting to know him, but I understand why many say he's more mature than he used to be," Martinez said shortly after Diaby's September return.
Schick in exclusive company
Schick continued his excellent form with a goal in a fifth consecutive Bundesliga matchday, becoming just the third player to score in the first five games of a Bundesliga campaign for Leverkusen, after Stefan Kiessling in 2009-10 and Dimitar Berbatov in 2005-06 — with all three netting five goals each across those opening rounds.
Momentum building under Martinez
Leverkusen's first campaign under Martinez got off to an inauspicious start with a 3-2 defeat to newly promoted Elversberg on matchday one, but they are now unbeaten in five games in all competitions since (W4 D1). With their Bundesliga victories over Leipzig — which sent them into the international break — and Mainz coming after a 2-0 Europa League win against Celje, they have won three straight matches for the first time since February, when they strung together a run of four.
They have also scored at least twice in all seven of their games under Martinez overall. Only one previous managerial reign at the club began with a longer run of multi-goal matches: eight under Bruno Labbadia in 2008.
The victory also delivered the first away win Martinez had targeted heading to Mainz, where the hosts remain without a home success this season — only Eintracht Frankfurt, on six matches, had been on a longer winless run on home soil.
Frustration for in-form Tietz
Mainz's Philipp Tietz arrived with goals in three consecutive Bundesliga matches and had been the first Mainz player to score four goals across the opening four matchdays of a season since Shinji Okazaki in 2014-15, but he could not extend that streak. Instead it was Caci — who had managed just one assist and no goals in his first four league appearances of the season — who twice found the net, though his brace ultimately counted for nothing.