EAGLES RUN RIOT AGAINST REIGNING CHAMPIONS

 Saturday 9 December 2023

Bundesliga 23/24 Season

Eintracht Frankfurt Vs Bayern Munich

Deutsche Bank Park, Frankfurt am Main.

EAGLES RUN RIOT IN ONE-SIDED CONTEST

The Frankfurt players celebrated with their fans after FT & beating Bayern 5-1.

Bayern boss, Thomas Tuchel watches on as his side conceded 5 goals against Frankfurt for the 2^nd time.

PREVIEW:

It hasn’t been a good few days for Eintracht Frankfurt after they were dumped out against 3^rd tier German team 1. Fc Saarbrücken in the DFB-Pokal on Wednesday 6^th December and have lost back-to-back games in the Bundesliga to Stuttgart and Augsburg. This means that they are on a run of 4 straight defeats in all competitions. It was the same team (Saarbrucken) that dumped Bayern out a few months back. For Bayern, it has been just confidence building after they won at FC Köln thanks to a Harry Kane goal. Can the record champions continue to wreak havoc in the Bundesliga with their unbeaten run?

TEAM NEWS:

Dino Toppmöller makes 3 changes to the team that lost at the Ludwigspark Stadion in Saarbrücken, with Aurelio Buta, Hugo Larsson and Ansgar Knauff starting with Philipp Max, Niels Nkounkou & Makoto Hasebe as he sticks to a 3-4-3 formation with Willian Pacho, Robin Koch and Tuta forming the wall with Captain Kevin Trapp between the sticks. Dina Ebimbe and Aurelio Buta play in the wingback positions partnered with Götze and Hugo Larsson in the midfield, Omar Marmoush spearheads the attack with Fares Chaibi and Ansgar Knauff playing support to him.

Thomas Tuchel makes one change from their win at FC Köln, with Alphonso Davies playing at left-back with Konrad Laimer dropping to the bench. Noussair Mazraoui returns to right-back partnering with Dayot Upamecano and Kim Min-Jae in the defence. Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka are the holding DMs with Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting at the CF role with Leroy Sane and Kingsley Coman out on the wing with Harry Kane the spearhead of the attack in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

KEY MOMENTS: FIRST HALF

Off we go in Frankfurt, as the first half commences. A very intriguing contest here as both teams battle for possession and chances. The first goal wasn’t long incoming as Frankfurt fired in after 12 minutes. Fares Chaibi’s shot grazed the crossbar and Omar Marmoush followed up with a good finish to beat captain Manuel Neuer as the hosts struck first blood.

Marmoush celebrates the first goal with Hugo Larsson after he tapped in the follow-up from Fares Chaibi.

Bayern were absolutely struggling to cope with the home side’s counterattacks that come with so much pace, although they did manage 2 attempts, both were off target. First, Coman made a good run in the box, but fired over the bar on 17 minutes. Then on 25 minutes, another good chance fell their way. This time it was Harry Kane as he collected Goretzka’s pass, and he just fizzed the shot wide. The hosts then scored on 31 minutes. Jr Dina Ebimbe collected Kim Min-Jae’s poor pass and then dribbled his way past Davies and Upamecano to slot in past Manuel Neuer. Frankfurt are in dreamland.

Dina Ebimbe and his teammates celebrate the team’s second goal of the game.

5 minutes later, another wonderful team goal going the way of the hosts. Larsson latched onto Kimmich’s poor giveaway of the ball and plays a wonderful one-two with Marmoush and Larsson finished it beautifully to make it number 3.

 Hugo Larsson danced around the defenders to score a wonderful 3^rd goal for Frankfurt.

Frankfurt continued to tighten the screw against Bayern as the visitors finally had a chance from the corner. And with that they accepted the challenge and dragged one back. Joshua Kimmich firing a great strike from 20 yards after receiving Sané’s pass to give the visitors a merely consolation goal for them. HT in Frankfurt, after what has been a very terrific performance from the Eagles in this first 45 minutes.

KEY MOMENTS: SECOND HALF

The second half commences after what was a truly brilliant first-half display from Frankfurt, will this continue in the second half? Bayern have made two changes at the interval, with Laimer and Guerreiro on for Mazraoui and Davies. Laimer will play at RB and the Portuguese Guerreiro will fill in for Davies. And then came goal number 4 for the hosts. Upamecano gifted away the ball to Fares Chaibi on the counter as he found Eric Jr Dina Ebimbe, only for the former PSG winger to grab his second of the night and Frankfurt’s 4^th goal against Bayern today. It is also the Frenchman’s first brace in the Bundesliga.

Dina Ebimbe finished off a wonderful counterattack led by Chaibi to slot in his second of the game.

It’s been an outstanding night for Toppmöller’s eagles, taking advantage of Bayern’s defensive mistakes throughout the game. And on the hour mark, Knauff made it 5. Originally, the flag was up for offside against the 21-year-old winger, but referee Felix Zwayer overturned his decision after a VAR check, confirming that Knauff was played onside by substitute Laimer, convincing the referee to award the home side a 5^th goal. 

Knauff scored his team’s 5^th goal after VAR overturns the original decision against him.

It was the same scoreline that Bayern lost 4 years ago in November 2019, when they had Niko Kovac under their helm. Bayern’s night just went from bad to worse. Only minutes after coming on, Serge Gnabry is once again subbed out, with Jamal Musiala replacing him. With chances coming for both teams, including one for Bayern on 85 minutes. Goretzka and Kane colliding with the England man trying to attempt a bicycle kick. His goalscoring form hasn’t continued since he scored against FC Cologne at the Rhein-Energie Stadion two weeks ago. It hasn’t been a good night for the record champions as the FT whistle finally goes off in Frankfurt. Their misery has ended and more importantly, Frankfurt have ended Bayern’s unbeaten start to the Bundesliga season, consigning them to only their 2^nd defeat overall from August 2023. Their previous one being a 3-0 home loss to RB Leipzig in the DFB Super-cup thanks to a Dani Olmo hat-trick.

Harry Kane had a bad night to forget as his team lost 5-1 for the 2^nd time.

RESULT: SGE 5 – BAY 1

What comes next for both teams?

Bayern will travel to Manchester United for the final UCL group stage fixture on Tuesday, having already qualified for the knockout stages.

Eintracht Frankfurt will travel to Aberdeen for their final UECL group stage fixture on Thursday, with them set to go into the UECL preliminary knockout stages, where they could face a team who finished third in the UEL group stage in February 2024.