BUNDESLIGA PLAYER RATINGS | Eintracht Frankfurt 1-4 Augsburg – Augsburg top the Bundesliga after comeback win in Frankfurt
The weekend's Bundesliga action was brought to a close as Eintracht Frankfurt met Augsburg at Deutsche Bank Park. The hosts were left frustrated by their opening-day draw with Union Berlin and were keen to secure their first three points of the season in front of their boisterous home fans.
Manuel Baum's Augsburg made the trip to Frankfurt full of confidence after their victory over newly promoted Schalke last weekend, though they were wary that the hosts would likely provide a stiffer test than the Royal Blues.
Mario Götze and Ritsu Doan came in to make their first starts of the season, while summer signing Lilian Brassier slotted into defence. For the visitors, meanwhile, Anton Kade was sidelined through injury and replaced by Arijon Ibrahimović .
Adi Hütter's team got off to the perfect start inside the opening few minutes as last week's hattrick hero turned provider, a pinpoint cross from Younes Ebnoutalib to the back post saw Jonathan Burkardt rise highest to head Frankfurt into an early lead.
Eintracht, and specifically Ebnoutalib, continued to cause problems for the visitors throughout the opening half, and came close to a second goal several times, with Ebnoutalib, Uzun, and Onyedika all seeing opportunities squandered.
Augsburg were second best for much of the first half but very nearly found themselves an equalising goal on the stroke of half time as Fabian Rieder 's free kick flew agonisingly wide of the post.
The hosts were made to pay for those missed chances of the first half less than 26 seconds into the second period as Arijon Ibrahimović got on the end of a Marius Wolf cross, thanks to a nick off Elias Baum , the ball found its way past Noah Atubolu .
Whatever Manuel Baum's half time team talk involved, it worked as his side were ahead all but a minute later when Ibrahimović's low shot was spilled by the former Freiburg keeper straight into the path of Robin Fellhauer who turned home.
Augsburg extended their lead midway through the second half thanks to a superb curling effort from substitute Alexis Claude-Maurice , stunning the home fans in the process.
Frankfurt regained control of possession after conceding the third, but the chances they had created with such ease in the first half were suddenly few and far between. Struggling to create anything meaningful, their best opportunity came from distance, with Ritsu Doan sending his effort over the crossbar.
With the game fizzling out, Rieder added further gloss to Augsburg's emphatic victory with a fantastic free kick, giving Atubolu no chance.
A game of two halves, as they say. It was all Frankfurt in the first half, but all Augsburg in the second. The scoreline doesn't quite reflect what happened on the pitch, but it was a sobering result for Frankfurt and a superb one for Augsburg, who shoot straight to the top of the Bundesliga.
Noah Atubolu (5) – Elias Baum (4), Robin Koch (4), Lilian Brassier (4), Keita Kosugi (5) – Mario Götze (6), Raphael Onyedika (6) – Can Uzun (6), Ritsu Doan (6) – Younes Ebnoutalib (6), Jonathan Burkardt (7)
Others: Farès Chaïbi (6), Timothy Chandler (6), Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyabe (6)
Finn Dahmen (8) – Noahkai Banks (6), Chrislain Matsima (7), Calvin Brackelmann (6) – Marius Wolf (6), Han-Noah Massengo (7), Fabian Rieder (7), Hennes Behrens (6) – Arijon Ibrahimović (7), Robin Fellhauer (6) – Michael Gregoritsch (6)
Others: Alexis Claude-Maurice (7), Youngwoo Seol (6), Mert Kömür (6), Rodrigo Ribeiro (6)
The 28-year-old stopper kept his side in the game when it could have so easily have got away from them in a first half where they were clearly second best. His teammates did the rest in the second half.
GGFN | Harry Good
