Eintracht Frankfurt take huge step to securing top four finish | OneFootball

The 31st matchday of the 2024/25 Bundesliga season was rife with entertaining battles and captivating storylines.

Defending champions Bayer Leverkusen ended a run of two stalemates in a row by defeating Augsburg 2-0. Borussia Dortmund edged Hoffenheim 3-2 courtesy of Waldemar Anton’s 95th-minute goal. And over in the Allianz Arena, Bayern Munich all but guaranteed their Bundesliga championship by demolishing Mainz 3-0.

However, perhaps the most consequential match of the weekend took place at the Waldstadion in a top-four showdown between Eintracht Frankfurt and RB Leipzig.

These two sides had previously met twice over the course of 11 days in December – Leipzig knocked Frankfurt out of the DFB-Pokal after winning 3-0 via a goal from Benjamin Sesko and a brace from Lois Openda, before prevailing 2-1 via goals from Sesko and Openda.

That was back when Eintracht had Omar Marmoush, who took German football by storm this season with 15 goals and 10 assists in 17 Bundesliga appearances before eventually joining Manchester City in January for £59 million. With Marmoush now playing in England, the time was surely ripe for Leipzig to achieve their first-ever win in Frankfurt?

Leipzig nearly drew first blood as Sesko cut inside from the left flank, bewildered his opponent with a series of stepovers before stinging the palms of Kevin Trapp. He then made a piercing run in behind the Eintracht defence, only to fail to control the ball into his path.

Just before Ridle Baku had a chance to pick up the rebound, Eintracht defender Arthur Theate stuck a foot and intervened, with Ellyes Skhiri shovelling a quick pass to midfield partner Hugo Larsson. The Swede played a quick one-two with Jean-Matteo Bahoya before unleashing Hugo Ekitike.

He was carefully positioned on the last line of defence, with the French striker bursting forward before cutting inside and teeing up Ansgar Knauff, who made no mistake with the finish. It was a scintillating counter-attack, one that showcased the guile and communication that have been so vital to Eintracht’s stellar campaign under Dino Toppmoller.

Eintracht nearly went in front again as Ekitike held up his marker and found Theate, who caressed it down the line towards Bahoya, who then played it towards Ekitike.

The striker made his way towards the byline and fired a pass across goal, with Nathaniel Brown performing a lovely dummy to allow Knauff to have a crack at it, only for Leipzig defender El Chadaille Bitshiabu to clear it off the line. Little did he know it, but Bitshiabu would soon go from hero to zero.

The hosts continued their impressive attacking onslaught after the interval, with Theate firing a long ball towards Eintracht’s three forwards. Knauff beat Bitshiabu to the ball, forcing the French defender to stick a foot in and trip him up on the edge of the box.

With Leipzig now reduced to 10 men, Eintracht were able to put Leipzig under even greater pressure. The resulting free kick would see Theate and Ekitike standing over the ball, with the former deciding to fire a piledriver into the hands of Maarten Vandevoordt. The ball ricocheted into the path of Knauff, who stabbed home a perfectly controlled side-footed volley to double the lead.

After failing to trouble Leipzig with a corner kick, Eintracht quickly recycled the ball back towards Bahoya at the corner, who delivered a peach of a cross towards the far post, where Ekitike towered over Lutsharel Geertruida and headed into the back of the net. They sealed the deal in the 71st minute, this time from the other corner flag, with Brown firing in a tempting corner kick for Robin Koch to head home.

Leipzig nearly pulled back a consolation goal via substitute Openda, only for the Belgian’s free kick to sail north of the goal. Instead, Eintracht won 4-0 to secure their third straight home win in the Bundesliga.

With just three matches remaining, Eintracht currently sit third in the table on 55 points, four above Freiburg, six above Leipzig, and seven above Dortmund. Eintracht are all but confirmed to finish in the Bundesliga’s top three for the first time since 1992/93, but as for Leipzig? They find themselves in grave danger of missing out on Champions League football for the first time in seven years.