Bundesliga
Frankfurt overtake Olympiacos with Europa League win
Goals from Rafael Borre, Almamy Toure and Daichi Kamada saw Eintracht Frankfurt beat Olympiacos 3-1 and leapfrog the Greek champions to the top of UEFA Europa League Group D.
Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1 Olympiacos
Goals: 1-0 Borre (pen, 26’), 1-1 El-Arabi (pen, 30’), 2-1 Toure (45’+3), 3-1 Kamada (59’)
Borre was a live wire in the opening stages, having several attempts from crosses from the left wing but finding no way through. The Colombian was then taken down in the box by Pape Cisse, before dusting himself off and converting the penalty with aplomb. The Greek side then found a surprise way back into the game when Kristijan Jakic handled in the area and Youssef El-Arabi narrowly beat Kevin Trapp from the spot. Eintracht restored their head on the stroke of half-time. Martin Hinteregger’s header came back off the bar, but the Bundesliga side recycled the ball, with Djibril Sow squaring for Toure to tap in for 2-1.
The second half was open as Eintracht looked to put some distance between themselves and Olympiacos, while the visitors at Deutsche Bank Park pushed for an equaliser. In the end it was the former that happened when Goncalo Paciencia’s strike from 20 yards proved too hot to handle for Tomas Vlacik and Kamada was quickest to react to round the goalkeeper and roll the ball over the line for the third. The result sees Frankfurt move top of Group D on seven points – one clear of Olympiacos before their reverse fixture in Greece in a fortnight. Fenerbahce (two) and Royal Antwerp (one) remain further behind.
Match stats
- Borre scored his first Europa League goal and his second for Frankfurt in all competitions.
- Kamada’s seventh Europa League goal saw him surpass Takumi Minamino as the competition’s all-time top-scoring Japanese player.
- He has as many goals in 13 Europa League appearances as he does in 70 Bundesliga games for Eintracht.
- Only Luka Jovic (10) has scored more times in the Europa League for Frankfurt than Kamada.
- This was the first time in 12 matches under Oliver Glasner that the Eagles had scored three goals.
- It was also Frankfurt’s first home win in any competition his season.
Live-ups
Frankfurt: Trapp - Tuta (N’Dicka 60’), Hasebe (c), Hinteregger – Toure (Durm 82’), Sow (Hauge 89’), Jakic, Kostic - Borre, Paciencia (Rode 82’), Kamada
Unused subs: Ramaj, Ilsanker, Hrustic, Lammers, Chandler, Da Costa, Lindstrom
Out: Barkok (knee), Lenz (thigh), Younes (not included)
Coach: Oliver Glasner
Olympiacos: Vaclik - Lala (Androutsos 77’), Sokratis, Cisse, Reabciuk – M’Vila (Onyekuru 60’), Bouchalakis (c) - A. Camara, M. Camara (Kunde 65’), Masouras (Lopes 77’) - El-Arabi (Soares 65’)
Unused subs: Tzolakis, Vrousai, Ba, Valbuena, Karbownik, Papadopoulos, Sourlis
Out: Fortounis (knee)
Coach: Pedro Martins
As it happened
3 - 1(2 - 1)
Frankfurt
FINAL
Olympiacos
90'
vs
ADDED TIME
Four minutes of it.
89'
vs
Jens Petter Hauge
Djibril Sow
84'
vs
Pierre Kunde
82'
vs
RODE RETURNS
Applause around Deutsche Bank Park as captain Sebastian Rode makes his first appearance of the season after recovering from injury.
82'
vs
Erik Durm
Almamy Touré
82'
vs
Sebastian Rode
Goncalo Paciencia
78'
vs
HINTI JUST WIDE!
A sweet hit from the Austrian on the angle from the left. It fizzes just wide of the far post with Vaclik scrambling.
77'
vs
Thanasis Androutsos
Kenny Lala
77'
vs
Rony Lopes
Giorgos Masouras
75'
vs
IN CONTROL?
Approaching 15 minutes to go in Frankfurt and the hosts are looking comfortable with their two-goal cushion. Just go to make sure it stays that way.
66'
vs
Pierre Kunde
Mohamed Camara
66'
vs
Tiquinho Soares
Youssef El-Arabi
61'
vs
Evan Ndicka
Tuta
61'
vs
Henry Onyekuru
Yann M'Vila
59'
vs
KAMADA ADDS A THIRD!
He loves this competition and gets his first of the campaign in Europe as the first to react from Vaclik's parried save from Paciencia's long-range hit. The Japan international simply rounds the goalkeeper and taps in.
56'
vs
JUST A CORNER
Olympiacos are asking for another penalty for a high boot against Jakic, but there's nothing in that as the Croatian puts the ball behind.
53'
vs
OPEN GAME
Things are pretty open at Deutsche Bank Park with both teams continuing to attack. Frankfurt can simply wait for chances to come.
50'
vs
Tuta
48'
vs
Mohamed Camara
46'
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NO CHANGES
Away we go again for the second half. Both teams resume unchanged.
0 - 0
Kick-off!
0 - 0
Half-time
45' +3
vs
FRANKFURT LEAD AGAIN!
Hinteregger was initially denied by the crossbar when he flicked on Kostic's header, but Frankfurt stayed alive and played their way back into the box, with Sow ultimately squaring for Toure to tap home and restore the lead on the stroke of half-time.
40'
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SOKRATIS SAVED
The former Dortmund man has one goal from 12 games against Eintracht, but his header this time is a simple hold for Trapp.
39'
vs
Sokratis Papastathopoulos
38'
vs
TOURE!
The full-back keeps his eye on the ball as it comes in high from the left, connects with the volley, but can't direct it on target.
35'
vs
Goncalo Paciencia
30'
vs
ALL SQUARE
Trapp guesses right going to his left, but Al-Arabi's effort is too high and powerful for him.
29'
vs
PENALTY TO OLYMPIACOS
And only moments later, there's another penalty, this time at the other end for handball by Jakic.
25'
vs
Pape Abou Cisse
25'
vs
PENALTY TO FRANKFURT!
Borre once again the man and he's taken down by a tumbling Cisse in the Olympiacos box. The Portuguese referee shows no hesitation pointing to the spot.
23'
vs
BORRE!
The Colombian's third attempt and he's getting ever closer. Another header onto a cross from the left, just a few yards out. Vaclik gets himself in the way in the Olympiacos goal before throwing himself onto the loose ball before it could trickle over the line.
20'
vs
BORRE AGAIN!
It's that combination once more. Kostic's cross is high and deeper this time with Borre running onto it with his head, but he can't put it on target. Frankfurt are edging closer, you feel.
18'
vs
CLOSE FOR BORRE
Kostic whips in a cross from the left. Borre gets across his man at the front post, but his attempted flick is blocked behind for a corner. Thumbs up from the Colombian for the ball, though.
13'
vs
KAMADA!
And there is the first attempt as Borre crosses from the right and Kamada gets his head to it running into the box, but he can't direct his effort inside the far post.
10'
vs
BUSY BUT QUIET START
We're 10 minutes in and still yet to see a shot in anger, but both teams are happy to get the ball down and try to play their way through.
5'
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OR ARE THEY?
This is one to keep an eye on. It's starting to look like a four out of possession but a three when Frankfurt have the ball, with Toure advancing up the right wing and Hinteregger shifting inside.
2'
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BACK FOUR
A bit of a shock to see that Frankfurt are actually playing with a back four, comprising of Toure, Tuta, Hasebe and Hinteregger - the latter a surprise at left-back.
0 - 0
Kick-off!
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MOMENTS AWAY
Deutsche Bank Park is looking pretty full as ever (now it's allowed to be full again) as the fans cheer along and the teams gather in the tunnel.
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ELSEWHERE IN EUROPE
Leverkusen have claimed a 1-1 draw away at Real Betis in this competition, while Union Berlin have been beaten 3-1 at Feyenoord in the Conference League. And a result that affects Frankfurt in Group D: Fenerbahce and Antwerp have played out a 2-2 draw.
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NOPE-AH!
Olympiacos have come to Germany eight times before in European competition, losing seven of them without even scoring a goal. The most recent was a 2-0 loss at Bayern in the 2019/20 Champions League group stage. Their sole win came against Werder Bremen in the 2007/08 group stage (3-1).
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ALL GREEK TO ME
It’s pretty rare to see Greek clubs in Frankfurt, but they tend to leave with very little. The last time Eintracht hosted a team from Greece they dispatched Iraklis 5-1 in the 1995/96 Intertoto Cup thanks to a Jay-Jay Okocha hat-trick. And the only other team to come here was PAOK in the first round of the 1981/82 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, and they lost 2-0.