Mainz coach Thomas Tuchel was delighted to see his side move back to the top of the German Bundesliga table on Sunday. Mainz recorded a 1-0 win at Bayer Leverkusen which sets them up nicely for the top-of-the-table clash with Borussia Dortmund next week.

Tuchel's two substitutes, Andre Schurrle and Alexander Ivanschitz, both combined just moments after entering the field to score the decisive goal and seal Mainz's eighth win in nine games and see them bounce back immediately from their first loss of the campaign last weekend.

"It makes me very proud that we were able to come back after the 1-0 defeat to Hamburg last weekend in this manner," said Tuchel.

The entrance of Schurrle, who will make the move to Leverkusen next season for an agreed fee of 10 million euros, and Ivanschitz made the difference as the home side faltered late on.

"Either I got the substitutions spot on or I fielded the wrong players in the first place," joked Tuchel afterwards.

Leverkusen coach Jupp Heynckes was not in the mood for joking, on the other hand.

He said his side simply had no chance of coping with such a long list of injuries, particularly after a trip to Greece in the Europa League on Thursday.

"I cannot criticise my team at all," he said. "Mainz have had all week to prepare for this game, but we didn't."