Jovic brace seals a 3-1 win for Frankfurt | OneFootball

FC Schalke 04 lost 3-1 away to Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday evening (17/1). Andre Silva (28’) put the Eagles ahead, before Matthew Hoppe equalised just before half time. Luka Jovic, on his return from Real Madrid, then came on to score twice late on to seal the win for SGE (72’, 91’).

Head coach Christian Gross made one change to the side that beat TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 4-0 last Saturday. Benito Raman replaced Alessandro Schöpf, who missed out with an injury.

The hosts started strongly and put Schalke under pressure right from the beginning. Aymen Barkok tested Ralf Fährmann early on with a low shot (3’), before the Moroccan fired just wide from 14 metres out four minutes later after linking up nicely with Erik Durm. Filip Kostic was a constant danger down the left-hand side for Frankfurt.

Martin Hinteregger came very close to putting the hosts ahead after 24 minutes as the Austrian headed onto the post from a Younes corner. Evan Ndicka followed this up with a shot that went wide not long afterwards, before Andre Silva went one better and opened the scoring for Frankfurt. The Portuguese received the ball near the penalty spot and skillfully turned, before slotting home into the left-hand side of the net (28’).

Schalke had the perfect response to the setback in the form of young American Matthew Hoppe, who levelled the score almost instantly. The 19-year-old was played in by Benjamin Stambouli just after the restart and finished well from an acute angle between Kevin Trapp’s legs to put the scores at one apiece.

Frankfurt continued to keep their foot on the gas in the second half, although Schalke did manage to break on occasions, for example in the 58th minute, when Benito Raman dragged a shot wide.

However, Eintracht still had more of the play and Filip Kostic and Andre Silva were constantly a danger to the S04 back four. After just over an hour, SGE coach Adi Hütter brought on Luka Jovic, making his return to the club on loan from Real Madrid. The prolific striker quickly had an impact on the game, giving Frankfurt the lead in the 72nd minute with a powerful strike from a Kostic cut-back, leaving Fährmann no chance.

The hosts looked to kill the game off late on and almost did through Andre Silva. His shot, though, was well saved by Fährmann (82’). Nonetheless, ‘Ralle’ was beaten again in injury time. Luka Jovic won the ball from a Schalke break and clinically scored his second of the night to seal a 3-1 win.

The Royal Blues’ final game of the first half of the season comes on Wednesday (20/1) at home to 1. FC Köln at the VELTINS-Arena (18:30 CET). Four days later, S04 will host FC Bayern on Sunday (24/1, 15:30 CET).