Germany: Bundesliga
FT
3 - 0
(1 - 0)
Frankfurt
Schalke 04
J. Lindstrøm (21), R. Borré (84), Buta (90)
By Peter Weis@PeterVicey

Glasner and Götze praise Schalke, Buta comments on inagural Bundesliga goal

After a feisty performance against a heavily-favored side, FC Schalke earned praise from both Eintracht Frankfurt starter Mario Götze and team trainer Oliver Glasner. 

SGE debutant and scorer of a substitute goal Aurelio Buta also commented on opening his Bundesliga account after a long and tortuous wait. 
Mario Götze.
Mario Götze.Photo: Michael Kranewitter, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Those not having watched Eintracht Frankfurt's 3-0 win over FC Schalke 04 might be easily deceived by the scoreline. In point of fact, Schalke looked to be the stronger offensive side for much of the match and easily topped their Hessen hosts in the xG metric and produced 19 shots on target to Frankfurt's 11 That may be little consolation to a last-placed side that has now gone 36 consecutive Bundesliga games without an away win, but Mario Götze and Oliver Glasner offered praise regardless.

"We knew that they would also take high risks and lean heavily into the duels," Götze told the Sky mics afterwards,  But the fact that they were so courageous, creative, and played so attack-minded was very good from Schalke."

Glasner agreed.

"I congratulate Schalke on a very, very good performance," Glasner told his interviewer, "I expected that from them and knew that we might have problems there. It's a victory that was not deserved at this level. I almost like what I saw from Schalke better than what I saw from us. We have some things we need to work through."

Kind words aside, the three points will undeniably serve as a boost for the Rhein-Main Eagles. Moreover, the manner in which two of the substitutes were able to add the two late goals gives the bench a boost. Want-away striker Rafael Santos Borré notched his second goal of the current campaign with the 2-0.

After not even appearing once for Frankfurt since joining on a free from Royal Antwerp this summer, Portuguese/Angolan right-back Aurelio Buta completed the 3-0 with a goal in his Bundesliga debut. Buta might soon be playing an even more prominent role for the team after makeshift right-back - whom Buta replaced - Eric Junior Dina Ebimbe succumbed to injury in the win.

Eintracht posted some comments from the long-injured Buta on its website. The 25-year-old had actually been dealing with persistent injury problems over the past two years. A severe muscle tear and, most recently, major knee surgery had kept him off the pitch for a long time.

"It feels great. I couldn't have imagined my debut any better," Buta is quoted via the club's website, "Despite the bad luck with injuries, I've always tried to stay positive and worked hard. In addition, my family has been very supportive, which has also helped me to come back as quickly as possible."

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