Home win over Kiel | OneFootball

Hugo Larsson (18’), Tuta (37’) and Can Uzun (60’) found the net as Eintracht Frankfurt beat Holstein Kiel to end a run of three successive Bundesliga draws.

First-half strikes from Larsson and Tuta put the Eagles firmly in the driving seat before the break, with Hugo Ekitiké having a penalty saved by Kiel goalkeeper Thomas Dähne late in the first half. Uzun scored his third goal since the turn of the year to extend Eintracht’s advantage on the hour mark, before Finn Ponrath netted a late consolation for Kiel. The win strengthens Eintracht’s grip on third place, lifting them five points above fourth-placed Leipzig in the Bundesliga standings.

Toppmöller names young side

With an average age of 23 years and 257 days, Dino Toppmöller fielded his youngest starting XI of the season so far at Deutsche Bank Park. Uzun, Nnamdi Collins and Oscar Højlund were restored to the starting line-up as the Eagles boss made three changes to the team that began the 1-1 draw at Borussia Mönchengladbach. Ansgar Knauff and Michy Batshuayi joined Elye Wahi on the bench, with Ellyes Skhiri missing out altogether because of a rib injury.

Comfortable first half

The Eagles dominated from the outset against their struggling opponents, with Ekitiké twice going close to putting them ahead inside the opening 15 minutes. The Frenchman was denied by Dähne on both occasions, but Larsson converted Nathaniel Brown’s cutback with the top of his thigh to put Toppmöller’s charges ahead.

Armin Gigovic sent a tame effort into Kevin Trapp’s arms as Kiel sought an immediate reply, but Brown almost doubled Eintracht’s advantage with a turn and shot which struck the right-hand post. Tuta netted from point-blank range after Uzun’s cross was flicked into his path, and it could have been 3-0 before the interval after VAR awarded a penalty against Ivan Nekic for handball inside the area. However, Dähne was equal to Ekitiké’s effort, diving low to his right to parry the ball past the post.

Ponrath nets consolation

Højlund was forced off with an injury five minutes into the second half, but Eintracht continued to carve out the better chances and did make it 3-0 when Uzun capitalised on an error from David Zec, intercepting the defender’s misplaced pass before beating Dähne with a confident finish.

Trapp did brilliantly to deny Ponrath twice in quick succession in the 73rd minute, but the Eintracht goalkeeper could do little about the midfielder’s third attempt as Ponrath prodded the ball over the line to pull one back for the visitors. The Eagles remained in control of the contest, however, and were only denied a fourth goal by the linesman’s flag after Ekitiké found the top corner from Rasmus Kristensen’s pass.