Moussa Diaby scored his first goal since returning to Bayer Leverkusen as they earned a thrilling 4-3 victory over Mainz in the Bundesliga.


2026/2027 Bundesliga

3-4

Match Report

Diaby – who returned to Leverkusen last month following spells at Aston Villa and Al-Ittihad – curled a sumptuous strike into the top-left corner to ultimately put Saturday's contest behind Mainz, who had rallied from 2-0 down in the first half.

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, then Patrik Schick finished clinically after Ibrahim Maza cleverly dummied Aleix Garcia's pass through to him.

But Mainz slowly grew into the game and halved the arrears when Anthony Caci prodded home in the 33rd minute, having reacted quickest to Andrich blocking 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.

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 scramble, the England international saw a fierce strike saved brilliantly by Alexander Schwolow, but when the ball bounced back to him, he looped a header into the far corner.

Mainz then came out of their shell in search of another fightback, but Diaby extended Leverkusen's lead further in the 65th minute as he received Afonso Moreira's pass in a central area, got the ball out of his feet, then curled out of Schwolow's reach.

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.

Aaaand breathe..., we hold on to take all three points!  #M05B04 https://t.co/87G7GAsZk1

— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) October 10, 2026

Schick matches Kiessling and Berbatov, Diaby ends long wait

Leverkusen's first campaign under Martinez got off to an inauspicious start as they lost 3-2 to newly promoted Elversberg on matchday one in the Bundesliga, but since then, they are unbeaten in five games in all competitions (W4 D1).

With their Bundesliga victories over Leipzig and Mainz coming after a 2-0 Europa League win against Celje, they have won three straight matches in all competitions for the first time since February (a run of four).

They have also scored at least twice in all seven of their games under Martinez overall, only netting multiple goals in more consecutive matches to start one previous managerial reign (eight under Bruno Labbadia in 2008).

Schick also continued his excellent form, 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 (all five goals each). 

But Diaby's goal was the standout moment, as he found the net in the Bundesliga for the first time in 1,278 days (versus Eintracht Frankfurt in April 2023).

Match Events

5' GOAL! Mainz 0-1 Leverkusen (Robert Andrich)



9' GOAL! Mainz 0-2 Leverkusen (Patrik Schick)



26' Match Event for Mainz vs Leverkusen


33' GOAL! Mainz 1-2 Leverkusen (Anthony Caci)



42' GOAL! Mainz 2-2 Leverkusen (Anthony Caci)



Line-ups

Mainz XI: Alexander Schwolow, Phillipp Mwene, Sheraldo Becker, Amiri, S.Posch, Phillip Tietz, Caci, Kaishu Sano, Eric Martel, Fabio Gruber, Kacper Potulski

Subs: S.Bell, Da Costa, Lee Jae-Sung II, Lennard Maloney, Benedict Hollerbach, Ransford Königsdörffer, Sota Kawasaki, Maximilian Kinzig, Rael Nakuzola

Leverkusen XI: Mark Flekken, Andrich, Schick, A.García, Facundo Medina, Tapsoba, Diaby, Miguel Gutiérrez, Quansah, Afonso Moreira, Ibrahim Maza

Subs: Janis Blaswich, Hofmann, Vazquez, Terrier, Tella, Loïc Badé, Malik Tillman, Victor Boniface, Equi Fernández