15.30 Kickoffs: Frankfurt and Union deliver instant seven-goal classic
A frankly ridiculous set of absolute crackers in the Bundesliga's 15:30 kickoffs surely left fans all over the world glued to their television sets. A set of four fixtures produced an incredible total of 18 cumulative goals!
A win for Frankfurt combined with a draw for Dortmund had huge ramifications for the 2020/21 race for the UCL places. Adi Hütter's SGE now go four points clear of Dortumund in fourth place after a thrilling 5-2 win over FC Union Berlin.
Eintracht Frankfurt and 1. FC Union evidently weren't satisfying with their 3-3 shootout from the Hin-runde. The two sides topped themselves in a seven-goal melee that could have just of easily featured double that amount of tallies. No commentator or minute-by-minute writer could hope to catch up amid 90 full minutes of pulsating football.
A win for Frankfurt combined with a draw for Dortmund had huge ramifications for the 2020/21 race for the UCL places. Adi Hütter's SGE now go four points clear of Dortumund in fourth place after a thrilling 5-2 win over FC Union Berlin.
Just as in the Hin-runde encounter, two goals were scored in the opening seven minutes. This time, however, the German Eagles began on the front foot. Mere seconds after Djibril Sow dramatically cleared a Robin Knoche effort off the line, SGE striker André Silva opened up the scoring in the 2nd minute after a fine assist from Filip Kostic.
Union equalized five minutes on a somewhat controversial play. Julian Ryerson appeared to have folded Makoto Hasebe in the lead up to Max Kruse's 7th minute tally. Neither match official Markus Schmidt nor the Kölner Keller appeared interested, however, so the goal was allowed to stand.
End-to-end action continued throughout the half. Sow had to clear another effort off the line in the 20th. An freak accident own-goal from Union's Robert Andrich in the 35th enabled Frankfurt to take a 2-1 lead. Four minutes later, Kostic found the back of the net after countryman Luka Jovic and striker Silva set him up perfectly on the counter.
Two minutes after that, the Hessians seemed to have put the game out of reach. Silva put the SGE up 4-1 after a splendid assist from Daichi Kamada, looking much more comfortable than last week back in the ten spot. Union talisman Max Kruse was having none of it. The team's colorful spiritual captain banged home a Friedrich header to close the deficit just before the halftime whistle.
The second half featured only one more goal, but neither team took their foot off the gas pedal. No fewer than eight quality scoring chances as both sides put on an absolutely marvelous display. FCU starter Joel Pohjanpalo and substitute Keita Endo came oh so close to bringing Union back into the match. It was nevertheless SGE subs Steven Zuber and Timothy Chandler to combined to give Frankfurt their fifth goal in injury time.
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga's 15:30 kickoffs, Dortmund narrowly avoided a repeat of their 1-2 embarrassing loss to 1. FC Köln during the Hinrunde. Erling Haaland snatched the draw, and a brace, with a last minute goal to make it 2-2. Dortmund still drop points to Frankfurt in their quest for the top four.
Wolfsburg topped Bremen 2-1 in a other engaging fixture. The major talking point emerging from round 26's set of 15:30 kickoffs, however, must remain Bayern's incredible 4-0 victory over Stuttgart. All four tallies were scored after the German record champions were reduced to ten men. A hat trick for Robert Lewandowski now virtually assured that, should the Polish superstar remain healthy, the Gerd Müller record will fall this year.