Xinhua, Berlin :
Eintracht Frankfurt leapfrog Bayer Leverkusen in the standings after Goncalo Paciencia provided a brace at the opener of the 8th round in Bundesliga on Friday.
The “Eagles” played a clinical first half and scored twice through Paciencia before Bas Dost’s goal sealed the deal in the closing period to edge Bayer Leverkusen, who could have moved atop the table with a win.
Frankfurt caught a fairy-tale start in front of the home crowd as Dost’s deep through-ball allowed Paciencia to shrug off two defenders before tapping home the opener from inside the box with just four minutes played.
The Portuguese remained in the thick of things as he headed over the target unmarked moments later. Leverkusen wobbled and to make things worse, Aleksander Dragovic was penalized for handball. Paciencia stepped up and made no mistake to double the lead with the subsequent penalty in the 17th minute.
Frankfurt thought they tripled their advantage but Filip Kostic’s goal from close range was ruled offside in the 22nd minute.
The “Werkself” failed to keep Frankfurt on the distance hence goalkeeper Lucas Hradecky had to be on guard to deny Paciencia’s first-half hat trick.
Leverkusen eventually showed a vital sign in the 41st minute when Lucas Alario’s volley one-time forced Frankfurt’s back-up goalkeeper Frederik Ronnow into action.
After the restart, Leverkusen gained a foothold into the game as Kai Havertz and substitute Karim Bellarabi kept Frankfurt’s defence busy.
The visitors remained on the front foot but still, they were unable to overcome Ronnow, who defused Alario’s header at the hour mark.
Peter Bosz’ men pressed frenetically but it were the hosts who showed no mercy and extended the lead against the run of the second half as Dost nutmegged Hradecky to round off the 3-0 victory on home soil.
With the win, Frankfurt climb from the 9th to the 7th place whereas Leverkusen slipped from the 7th to the 8th position in the standings.
