What the papers say: 'Rönnow's phenomenal performance'

The online edition of the Kölner Stadt Anzeiger states the obvious in the headline: 'Leverkusen miss chance to go top'. The report reads: "In an overall unstable Leverkusen formation, the biggest weak point was the defence. After four minutes, Danny da Costa split the back three of his former club with a diagonal ball to Goncalo Paciencia. The Portuguese striker left Aleksandar Dragovic and Mitchell Weiser standing as he scored to make it 1-0. At the other end, there was a lesson for the Bayer defence when Martin Hinteregger made a last-ditch sliding tackle to dispossess Kai Havertz, who was on course to score an equaliser, and he won the goal kick. ... Leverkusen were only more ambitious in the second half. Alario, who scored two headers for Argentina in the international break, was unable to beat the outstanding Frederik Rönnow (66'). Shortly after that, Kevin Trapp's replacement also kept out efforts from Bellarabi (69'/70'). Bayer 04 actually looked capable of getting back into the game during this phase."

The Bild Zeitung highlights two main protagonists on the night: "Paciencia and Dost: Frankfurt's goal duo beat Leverkusen! They score and score and score! Frankfurt strikers Goncalo Paciencia (25) and Bas Dost (30) fired Eintracht to a clear 3-0 victory in the clash with rivals Leverkusen. It was all over for Leverkusen after a quick brace from Paciencia. Fourth minute: Da Costa plays a brilliant diagonal ball for Paciencia to run onto. He shakes off Weiser and tucks the ball into the net to make it 1-0. 17th minute: Leverkusen's Dragovic blocks a Kostic shot with his hand – penalty. Paciencia coolly converts. 2-0 to Frankfurt. Later, Dost pokes the ball into the net to make it 3-0 (80')."

The Rheinische Post takes the following view: "With his hands on his hips, Bayer Leverkusen coach Peter Bosz looked frozen solid on the edge of the pitch. The Dutchman appeared baffled, powerless, helpless. Although only a quarter of an hour into the match at this point, the game already appeared to have slipped away from the coach and his Werkself. The team from the Rhineland had almost nothing to offer in face of a blistering performance by the home team, going 2-0 down and finally deservedly losing 3-0. A win on Friday would have taken Bayer top of the table for the night. Now Leverkusen have to take their place at the back of the queue. In the opening stages of the game, Leverkusen were confronted with a free-flowing Eintracht who quickly put pressure on the Bayer defenders and reacted faster."

The assessment in Kicker: "Thanks to a rousing opening to the game, Eintracht Frankfurt secured a 3-0 win against Bayer Leverkusen, who made more of an effort in the second half. Goncalo Paciencia scored twice but was almost slightly overshadowed by his strike partner Bas Dost. The visitors were erratic with a large number of chances. ... Control of the game and chances were better after the break but the ball didn't want to go into the net – Leverkusen were too harmless up front."

‘Best game of my career’

The Hessen press are naturally full of enthusiasm in their assessment of the Eintracht performance. The Frankfurter Rundschau talks about "Fireworks in the city forest" but also emphasises the decisive role played by the hosts' goalkeeper in the second half: "At the end of the thrilling, breathtaking match, the victorious Eintracht pros ran back to their goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow. They knew who they had to thank and the 51,000 crowd knew as well: 'Rönnow, Rönnow' rang out shortly before the final whistle. And it was Frederik Rönnow, outstanding in goal, who brilliantly kept Eintracht in the game at a critical phase. This week has been good for the shot-stopper: On Thursday he was a father for the first time with the birth of his son Theodor. 'That was the best game of my career', he beamed after the game.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung comes to this conclusion: "Eintracht Frankfurt presented their fans with a blistering performance for the first time in this Bundesliga campaign: The team under coach Adi Hütter beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in an exciting match." The FAZ also mentions the Werkself's good phase: "The situation at the Frankfurt World Cup arena changed after half an hour. Leverkusen steadied their defence and began to look more imposing in their moves. Baumgartlinger and Alario twice could have scored in the first half. ... Eintracht resisted but they couldn't prevent Bayer risking everything to create decent goalscoring opportunities again and again. It was Havertz and Alario who were in promising positions with feet and heads but each time they were unable to beat Rönnow. The Danish deputy for Kevin Trapp improved during the game and produced a phenomenal performance. The best of many impressive saves came on 75 minutes with a reflex punch that turned a Havertz shot, deflected by Hasebe, over the bar."