VfB Stuttgart and Eintracht Frankfurt are riding high after lopsided wins over VfL Bochum and Bayer 04 Leverkusen, respectively. Stuttgart move out of the relegation zone with their 4-1 win. Eintracht move into the top four following a 5-1 rout.
Both Bayern and Dortmund can still knock Eintracht out of the Champions’ League places before the weekend is out.
The hometown crowd at the Mercedes Benz Arena were quickly given something to cheer about when an early penalty enabled the BaWü hosts to claim an early lead. Silas danced past three Bochum markers in the box and VfL defender Danilo Stores was forced into a tactical foul. The Congolese talent took the spot kick himself to put his team up 1-0 in the 3rd. Buoyed by this dream start, the hosts proceeded to sparkle on both sides on the ball. Two minutes after Millot just missed the 2-0, Silas set up Naouirou Ahamada brilliantly for the actual second tally in the 22nd.
To their immense credit, the Westphalian guests did not allow the early deficit to rattle them. Letsch’s men kept calm and were able to generate a few half-chances in pursuit of the pull-back-goal. Stöger and former Stuttgart attacker Philipp Förster combined beautifully in the 29th. VfB keeper Florian Müller could only turn a Stöger service intended for Simon Zoller directly into the VfL striker’s path. Zoller polished off the chance and it was game on at the half-hour mark. Though there would be no more goals, the first-half came to a fast-paced and entertaining conclusion.
Some stoppages and injury timeouts impeded the flow of the match after the restart. Ahamada actually had to exit the match. Once both teams settled back into the groove, the Swabians continued to make noise with Silas on the right while the NRW squad punched back hard on a few counters. Unfortunately for Bochum, Silas added another goal shortly after their counter-charges had produced some promising chances. Silas bagged himself a brace with the 3-1 in the 64th. The VfL ranks were all out of sorts during Sosa’s set-up. VfB captain Wataru Endo added a fourth in the 41st when Letsch’s men couldn’t clear after a free-kick.
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga’s 15:30 kickoffs, Eintracht Frankfurt also bested Bayer 04 Leverkusen by a lopsided scoreline. The match at Deutsche Bank Park was actajully a tad more competitive for a longer time. Even those Oliver Glasner’s SGE were superior to Xabi Alonso’s Werkself for much of the game, Bayer were able to draw level with Frankfurt 1-1 early in the second half. Unfortunately for Germany’s red company team, a hail of Eintracht goals followed. Daichi Kamada earned a brace with two converted penalties.
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