Frankfurt beaten at Leverkusen | OneFootball

Eintracht Frankfurt went down to a 3-1 defeat at Bayer 04 Leverkusen on Matchday 27.

Head coach Oliver Glaser named the same starting line-up for the third match in a row as he kept faith with the team that beat Union Berlin in the DFB Cup quarter-finals in midweek. Christopher Lenz returned to the squad having missed the last two and took his place among the substitutes.

Bayer more clinical

The opening exchanges at the BayArena were marked by several niggling fouls, but the hosts showed their footballing quality when they took the lead with their first opportunity on 10 minutes, as Amine Adli outpaced both Evan Ndicka and Kristijan Jakic and stabbed the ball past Kevin Trapp. Frankfurt had a chance to equalise within three minutes when Philipp Max connected with Aurelio Buta’s cross at the far post, but his powerful effort was too central and blocked by ex-Eintracht goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky.

The Eagles had a good spell of possession after that but failed to translate it into clear-cut chances, with Buta and Max both having efforts blocked following a flowing move. Leverkusen then had a double chance of their own on the counter, Moussa Diaby’s shot being saved by Trapp before Adli volleyed just over. Bayer did double their lead in the 34th minute, though. Florian Wirtz played in Diaby, whose finish took a deflection off Ndicka on its way into the far corner. It could have got even worse for Eintracht before half-time but for Trapp’s fingertip save to push Adli’s shot around the post.

Brief hope of comeback

Glasner made a change at the break, with Ansgar Knauff replacing Buta on the right, but his side continued to struggle to find openings. In fact, it was Leverkusen who looked more likely to score the third goal, with Trapp denying both Wirtz and Diaby. Further reinforcements came on for Eintracht in the form of Daichi Kamada, Tuta and Junior Dina Ebimbe.

With not much happening in the game, the Eagles suddenly got back in the contest in the 74th minute when Max raced away down the left flank and pulled the ball back for Djibril Sow, who showed composure to net his fourth goal of the season. That livened Eintracht up but despite their best efforts, they failed to fashion any real opportunities to snatch an equaliser and instead substitute Sardar Azmoun wrapped up the three points for the hosts with virtually the last kick of the match.

The result sees Bayer move above Eintracht into sixth place as the Eagles’ search for a first away win of the year goes on.

SGE line-up

Trapp – Jakic, Hasebe (Tuta 64’), Ndicka – Buta (Knauff 46’), Rode (Dina Ebimbe 64’), Sow, Max – Borré (Kamada 56’), Götze (Alario 82’) – Kolo Muani

Goals

1-0 Adli (10’)

2-0 Diaby (34’)

2-1 Sow (74’)

3-1 Azmoun (90’+5)