Leverkusen are relegated to the bargaining zone after the debacle in Frankfurt. Schick and Hložek failed to make it through

On Saturday afternoon, Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer 04 Leverkusen played each other in the 10th round of the Bundesliga. It was a clash between the two representatives of German football in the Champions League, with both teams losing their Wednesday matches on Europe’s top stage. How did the clash between the eighth and fifteenth teams in the league table go?

Leverkusen’s starting line-up featured Czech striker Patrik Schick at the Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt. On the other hand, his compatriot Adam Hložek sat on the substitutes’ bench from the opening whistle.

After five minutes of play, Götze had the first good opportunity for the home side, but his shot from just outside the sixteen went just wide of the left post. Just before the opening ten minutes were up, visiting defender Hincapié’s successful slide in the penalty area prevented Kolo Muani from scoring.

Austrian coach Oliver Glasner’s charges were the more active team in the rest of the half. However, there was no goal to celebrate. Then, on the other side, Frimpong got a dangerous finish in the 34th minute when he brushed his close-range volley against the crossbar after Diaby’s centre from the left.

In the set-up of the opening act, referee Willenborg awarded a penalty to Eintracht after a foul by Tapsoba. Kolo Muani missed it due to another of Hradecky’s many good saves, but he needn’t have been so sorry. The Slovakian-born Finnish goalkeeper failed to keep his feet on the line at the moment of the kick and sent Frankfurt into a 1:0 lead from Daichi Kamada’s second chance.

In the 56th minute the game was level. Piero Hincapié found a centred ball from Demirbay inside the penalty area and headed to the right post beyond the reach of goalkeeper Trapp. But the 1-1 draw didn’t last long.

The visiting defence failed in the second half

Two minutes later, the home side responded through Randal Kolo Muani. The French striker also scored with a successful header after an assist from Lenz. After that, neither Lindstrøm nor Ebimbe were able to make the 2:1 lead stand out from interesting opportunities.

Danish midfielder Jesper Lindstrøm succeeded in the 65th minute when he finished his break from the right with a precise lob from an angle that stopped in the net of Lukáš Hrádecký’s net. But Leverkusen’s complications did not end there.

Ecuador’s Hincapié was shown a second yellow card in the 71st minute for a foul in his own penalty area. Japan’s Kamada converted the penalty to make it 4-1.

80. in the final minute, the Czechs made a substitution, with coach Xabi Alonso sending on Adam Hložek instead of Patrik Schick. The Ivančice native had to watch another goal after six minutes when Lucas Alario scored after a simple combination through the defence.

Leverkusen dropped to the bargaining position

Frankfurt therefore won 5-1 and will be in fourth place in the Bundesliga table until at least Sunday. Leverkusen dropped down to 16th place in the barrage due to major defensive problems and a poor offensive performance, as Stuttgart won 4-1 against Bochum in a match played in parallel. Bayer have eight points, the same as Hertha, who play Leipzig tonight.

Next up for Frankfurt is a cup match on Tuesday at the Stuttgarter Kickers from the fifth league and at the weekend they will play Borussia Mönchengladbach. Leverkusen will face Wolfsburg at home in a week’s time.

Source: Nova Sport 3, Bundesliga