bundesliga

Andre Silva and Stefan Ilsanker fire Eintracht Frankfurt to victory over Werder Bremen

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Andre Silva scored again and substitute Stefan Ilsanker struck twice in the final 10 minutes as Eintracht Frankfurt took a big step towards safety with a 3-0 win away to Werder Bremen in their rescheduled Matchday 24 encounter on Wednesday.

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Werder Bremen 0-3 Eintracht Frankfurt
Goals: 0-1 Silva (61'), 0-2 Ilsanker (81'), 0-3 Ilsanker (90')

Silva had found the net three times in Frankfurt's previous four games ahead of kick-off and the Portuguese forward also had the first sight of goal here in what was a full-blooded relegation battle, only to see Jiri Pavlenka make a good save. The Eagles looked to be building momentum, with further openings for Daichi Kamada and Dominik Kohr, but Bremen gradually got into the game, driven on by their need for a win to climb up from 17th place. Davy Klaassen stung the fingertips of Kevin Trapp with a rasping drive from the edge of the box, while Theodor Gebre Selassie's header missed the target from a corner, leaving the teams goalless at the interval.

The visitors were the better side after the break and after Kohr had a goal chalked off for offside, Silva gave them a deserved lead seconds later with a thumping back-post header from Filip Kostic's pinpoint cross. That spurred Bremen into action but try as they might they could simply find no way through a well-drilled Frankfurt rearguard, with a hopeful shot that flew over the bar from substitute Leonardo Bittencourt about as close as they came. The Eagles sealed the points in the closing stages when Ilsanker tapped in his first-ever Bundesliga goal from close range following a corner, having only entered the pitch a few seconds earlier. The defender made sure there was no way back for a frustrated home team in the last minute with a powerful header from a Jonathan de Guzman free-kick.

Match stats

  • Silva has now scored half of his eight goals for the season in the five games since the Bundesliga restarted. He has also netted four with his head.
  • Bremen have conceded a league-high 16 headed goals in 2019/20.
  • Werder have also let in 20 goals from set-pieces, more than any other Bundesliga team.
  • Ilsanker found the net with his first touch of the ball. It was also his first ever Bundesliga goal.
  • Frankfurt have scored a league-high 12 times from corners this term.
  • Bremen now have the joint-worst defensive record in the top-flight (62 goals conceded, the same as Mainz).

Line-ups

Bremen: Pavlenka - Veljkovic, Vogt (Woltemade 83'), Moisander (c) - Gebre Selassie, M. Eggestein, Klaassen, Friedl (Augustinsson 76') - Osako (Bittencourt 76'), Selke (Sargent 61'), Bartels (Rashica 61')
Unused subs: Kapino, Langkamp, Groß, Bargfrede
Out: Füllkrug (torn ACL), Möhwald (knee), Pizarro (thigh), Toprak (calf)
Coach: Florian Kohfeldt

Frankfurt: Trapp - Abraham (c), Hasebe, Hinteregger - Toure, Kohr, Rode (Ilsanker 81'), Kostic - Kamada (Sow 77'), Gacinovic (de Guzman 88') - Silva (Dost 77')
Unused subs: Rönnow, N'dicka, Chandler, Da Costa, Durm
Out: Fernandes (calf), Paciencia (thigh), Torro (suspended)
Coach: Adi Hütter