Andre Silva and Eintracht Frankfurt held to draw in Cologne
Andre Silva's third Bundesliga goal of the season was only enough for a share of the spoils in Eintracht Frankfurt's Matchday 4 meeting with Cologne.
Cologne 1-1 Eintracht Frankfurt
Goals: 0-1 Silva (pen. 45'), 1-1 Duda (52')
Unbeaten this season, Frankfurt were hot favourites to take down a Cologne side still to register a single league point in 2020/21. The Eagles needed a good half-hour to take flight, with Silva the first to test Timo Horn's resolve from range. David Abraham headed wide from a Daichi Kamada corner, before Eintracht forged ahead. Kamada was involved again, weaving his way into the box and going to ground under Sebastiaan Bornauw's rash challenge. Match referee Sven Jablonksi consulted the VAR, before pointing to the penalty spot. Silva swept in with aplomb, his strike having just too much power and precision for the full-stretch Horn.
Silva combined with Bas Dost soon after the restart, only for Kamada to fluff his lines from close range. It proved a costly miss as Kingsley Ehizibue's marauding run and inch-perfect cross was met on the half volley by Duda for 1-1. Frankfurt responded in kind, with Bornauw denying Silva a clean run of goal and Almamy Toure heading straight at Horn from another heat-seeking Kamada delivery. Duda's diving header brought the best out of Kevin Trapp in a welcome moment of respite for Cologne, who were fortunate to see Toure head over the crossbar and a deflection take debutant Amin Younes' goal-bound strike wide. Cologne substitute Anthony Modeste chanced his arm in injury time, but there was to be no late winner.
Match stats
- Frankfurt have made their best start to a Bundesliga campaign for eight years, and are unbeaten in their last six on the road (W4, D2).
- Silva has converted all three of his penalty attempts in the Bundesliga, including two this season.
- The Portugal international has netted 11 goals in 14 Bundesliga games since the May restart. Only Robert Lewandowski (16 goals) has hit more in the same period.
- Cologne are winless in 14 Bundesliga matches (D5, L9), and have failed to keep a clean sheet in 15.
- Duda scored his first Cologne goal, and first in all competitions since October 2019.
- Marius Wolf, who won the 2018 DFB Cup with Frankfurt and scored five goals in 31 Bundesliga appearances for the club, made his Cologne debut.
Watch: Silva on facing Bayern next
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Line-ups
Cologne: T. Horn (c) - Ehizibue (Schmitz 83'), Bornauw, Czichos, J. Horn - Skhiri, Rexhbecaj - Wolf, Duda (Özcan 72'), Jakobs - Andersson (Modeste 89')
Unused subs: Zieler, Katterbach, Mere, Sorensen, Liminos, Drexler
Out: Clemens (thigh), Hector (neck), Höger (knee), Kainz (knee)
Coach: Markus Gisdol
Frankfurt: Trapp - Abraham (c), Hasebe, Hinteregger - Toure, Rode, Ilsanker, Zuber (Younes 69') - Kamada - Dost, Silva (Barkok 86')
Unused subs: Schubert, Hrustic, Sow, Chandler, Da Costa, Kohr, Tuta
Out: Ache (thigh), Kostic (knee)
Coach: Adi Hütter
Watch: Duda: "It was a difficult shot"
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