Rampant Frankfurt hit five unanswered goals to down Leverkusen in 7-goal thriller
A quickfire Schick double left the visitors 0-2 up until Kostic, Sow, and Co. helped turn the game around to win 5-2.
| Frankfurt's Filip Kostic. | Photo: Silesia711, CC-by-SA 4.0 |
Exactly five minutes in and none other than the man on form, Patrick Schick, found the back of the net. A beautifully flowing Leverkusen counterattack took place down the right-hand flank. Wirtz picked out Andrich with a perfectly executed backheel, who in turn set up the Czech target man who duly slotted the ball home in what was an ideal start for the visitors.
On 19 minutes, an unlucky Sow handball was VAR checked by referee, Marco Fritz, to which he awarded a penalty. Naturally, nobody else was going to be let take the resulting spot kick other than Schick considering the red-hot form he is in. The Czech Republic international buried the ball down the middle as Trapp dived to the side.
Within a minute of Schick’s second, Tuta pulled a goal back to make the score 1-2. Jonathan Tah could only clear the ball onto the back of fellow centre-half Tapsoba. The bounce of the ball fell kindly for the young Brazilian who volleyed home unmarked from 6-yards out.
As the clock struck 30 minutes Lindstrom made it 2-2. A simply wonderful through ball from Sow bisected the B04 defence, allowing the Danish midfielder through to place a powerfully drilled shot past Hradecky in goal. Despite no goals going in during the final 15 minutes of the half, one could hardly be surprised such was the level of high intensity attacking football on show from both outfits.
The game was turned fully on its head 5 minutes into the second half. The away team that once lead by two quickly found themselves behind 3-2. A Kostic corner found N’Dicka in the box who somehow broke the ball for himself to thrash home a left-footed strike in true defender’s fashion.
Frankfurt completely dominated the following few minutes as they came closer and closer to finding a 4th goal while Die Werkself seemed to be chasing shadows. The breakthrough finally came with 25 minutes left to play. Another marauding Kostic left flank run and cross in the 66th minute meant Hincapie could only clear the ball to the onrushing Jakic. The Croat made it 4-2 to Die Adler with a precise effort taken in his stride on the half volley. At this point the game seemed out of reach for Seoane’s side.
The best goal of this brilliant game put the final nail in the B04 coffin on 76 minutes. Kostic, instrumental in the build up as ever, found Rafael Borre who unselfishly teed up Sow on the edge of the box. The Swiss central midfielder curled a first-time effort into the top right corner past the despairing Hradecky for a resounding 5-2.
After playing out the game of the week, it is Hutter’s Frankfurt who will end the night the happier of the two sides, as they prepare for the Bundesliga's Englische Woche trip to lowly Gladbach, while Bayer Leverkusen will play host to Hoffenheim on Wednesday night.