Edmond Tapsoba and Charles Aránguiz were the only two starters from the side that lost 1-0 away to Ferencváros . Captain Lukas Hradecky returned in goal and Patrik Schick started as the lone striker. Head coach Gerardo Seoane entrusted Moussa Diaby and Amine Adli on the wings. Jeremie Frimpong, Jonathan Tah, Piero Hincapie, Robert Andrich and Florian Wirtz completed the starting line-up against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Bayer 04 got off to a dream start with the ball in the back of the Frankfurt net after just five minutes: Wirtz broke into the box and played a back-heel pass to Andrich who moved the ball onto Schick in front of goal. The Czech Republic striker did not delay and scored the opener with a shot on the turn. The Werkself continued to press, were compact at the back and quickly broke up the hosts’ build-up play. That effort was duly rewarded: Eintracht’s Djibril Sow handled the ball in his own penalty area and referee Marco Fritz awarded a spot kick after consulting the video screen. Schick coolly converted to make it 2-0 (22').
The game turned into an end-to-end encounter within a few minutes as Eintracht Frankfurt endeavoured to get on the front foot: First, central defender Tuta made it 2-1 from a corner (23'), and then Jesper Lindström scored from a brilliant pass from Sow to level at 2-2 – the Danish midfielder slotted the ball into the bottom left corner on the half-hour mark.
The scoreboard showed the two sides level and Leverkusen had to make sure they didn't lose the plot. The Seoane team did recover after conceding the second goal. The match became increasingly competitive with both teams not giving an inch and dozens of intensive duels dominated this phase of the game. There were no more clear-cut chances in the first half so the two sides went into the break with the scoreline at 2-2.
The Werkself were hit again a few minutes after the restart: From a corner, the ball landed up with defender Evan Ndicka. He retained his focus and put the ball away to make it 3-2 (50'). Eintracht kept their foot on the gas as they looked to add another goal straightaway. It was down to Lukas Hradecky to keep the Eagles out. The skipper first kept out an effort from Rafael Borré (52') and then from Filip Kostic (56'). At the other end, Diaby had a chance to level but he failed to connect properly and the ball went wide of the left-hand upright (57') leaving the score at 3-2.
There was hardly a moment to get a breather as the next goal came just nine minutes after Diaby's chance – and again it was the hosts who celebrated: After Hincapie cleared the ball it fell to Kristijan Jakic who fired a half-volley into the net leaving Hradecky with no chance (66'). It was now 4-2 to the Eintracht.
Bayer 04 faded up front while Eintracht worked themselves into a frenzy. Everything went right for the hosts: Borré laid the ball back to Sow on the edge of the box and he hit a long-range shot into the top right corner of the net – an absolute wonder goal and again no chance for Hradecky (76'). Seoane reacted by bringing on Karim Bellarabi, Nadiem Amiri and Lucas Alario as fresh legs for the attack. However, they were unable to prevent the first away defeat in this Bundesliga campaign. The game ended in a 5-2 win for Eintracht.
The Werkself have little time to recover before the next challenge. The Black and Reds are at home to TSG Hoffenheim on Wednesday, 15 December. The kick-off at the BayArena is at 20.30 CET. The final match in this calendar year is in exactly one week's time. Bayer 04 are away to SC Freiburg on Sunday, 19 December.
Match stats:
Eintracht Frankfurt: Trapp – Tuta, Hinteregger, Ndicka – da Costa (Toure 84'), Sow (Rode 85'), Jakic, Kostic – Kamada (Lammers 87'), Lindström (Hauge 46', Lenz 64') – Borré
Bayer 04: Hradecky – Frimpong (Bellarabi 75'), Tah, Tapsoba, Hincapie – Aránguiz (Palacios 67'), Andrich (Demirbay 67') – Diaby, Wirtz (Amiri 80'), Adli – Schick (Alario 80')
Goals: 0-1 Schick (5’), 0-2 Schick (22’ pen.), 1-2 Tuta (23’), 2-2 Lindström (30’), 3-2 Ndicka (50’), 4-2 Jakic (66’), 5-2 Sow (76’)
Booked: Frimpong, Aránguiz, Hincapie
Referee: Marco Fritz (Korb)
Attendance: 12,000
Former Werkself star Michael Ballack, who won the German Footballer of the Year award in 2002 while playing in Leverkusen, celebrates his 50th birthday on Saturday. Bayer 04 sends him its best wishes!
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