Bundesliga
US international Timothy Chandler and Filip Kostic scored two apiece in Eintracht Frankfurt's rampant 5-0 win over Augsburg.
Eintracht Frankfurt 5-0 Augsburg
Goals: 1-0 Chandler (37'), 2-0 Chandler (48'), 3-0 Silva (55'), 4-0 Kostic (89'), 5-0 Kostic (90')
Augsburg fired off the first real opening as Florian Niederlechner fed Ruben Vargas, who met stiff resistance in Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp. The visitors continued to create openings, with Philipp Max shooting wide from range before Eintracht found their groove around the half-hour mark. And after Chandler forced a strong reaction save from Augsburg goalkeeper Tomas Koubek, the Frankfurt-born American ran onto Dominik Kohr's defence-splitting pass and finished with aplomb. Niederlechner and Alfred Finnbogason had chances to level before the half was up, but Trapp was equal to both of them.
Buoyed by a four-match unbeaten run, including league and DFB Cup wins over title candidates RB Leipzig, Frankfurt rammed home their advantage soon after the restart. Koubek pushed a venomous Kohr strike over for a corner, from which Kostic found the head of Chandler for 2-0. Andre Silva spurned a close-range opportunity as the Eagles turned the screw, but made amends with his next attempt, heading home Kostic's well-weighted cross from close range. The AC Milan loanee shot wide and tested Koubek in a one-sided final quarter, before the outstanding Kostic scored twice in the final two minutes of normal time to put the seal on a well-deserved win.
Watch: Chandler: "It feels very, very good"
Frankfurt: Trapp – Toure, Abraham (c) (Hasebe 30'), Hinteregger, N'Dicka – Chandler, Kohr, Ilsanker, Kostic – Gacinovic (Rode 67') – Silva (Paciencia 84')
Unused subs: Rönnow, De Guzman, Sow, Kamada, Da Costa, Durm
Out: Dost (stomach bug), Fernandes (hip), Russ (Achilles tendon), Torro (thigh)
Coach: Adi Hütter
Augsburg: Koubek – Jedvaj (Lichtsteiner 74'), Gouweleeuw, Uduokhai, Max – Richter (Sarenren Bazee 81'), Khedira, Baier (c), Vargas – Finnbogason (Löwen 65'), Niederlechner
Unused subs: Luthe, Suchy, Moravek, Jensen, Gruezo, Hahn
Out: Cordova (ankle), Giefer (foot), Iago (international duty), Schieber (muscular)
Coach: Martin Schmidt