Eintracht Frankfurt v Bayer Leverkusen - Eintracht Frankfurt's Kristijan Jakic in action with Bayer Leverkusen's Lukas Hradecky during their German Bundesliga match at the Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt on October 15, 2022. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
Berlin: Xabi Alonso endured another frustrating game as Bayer Leverkusen coach in the Bundesliga while they lost at Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 on Saturday.
Coming after Porto’s 3-0 win in the Champions League on Wednesday, Leverkusen’s second loss from Alonso’s three games in charge ended the former Spain star’s honeymoon period as coach and left his team mired in a relegation battle.
Leverkusen occupied the relegation playoff place after slumping to its sixth defeat in 10 rounds.
"The situation is bad," Alonso said. "We can’t think about the end of the season. We have to keep believing. We have an intense week ahead of us and we have to keep working. That’s football: You have a new chance every week.”
Alonso led Leverkusen to a 4-0 rout of promoted Schalke in his debut last week but a team that is playing its first season back in the Bundesliga after demotion the season before found Frankfurt a different proposition.
Piero Hincapié emerged as the tragic figure for Leverkusen, scoring the team’s goal before he was sent off.
"We're the ones who have to accept this situation and nobody will help us," Alonso said. "There are no excuses. We still take a lot with us from today. The most important thing is that we are responsible, I as a coach, the players, and the staff.”
Daichi Kamada’s penalty just before the interval was enough for Frankfurt’s 1-0 halftime lead. The visitors felt hard done by as Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukáš Hrádecký was penalized for coming off his line when he saved Randal Kolo Muani’s initial penalty, giving Frankfurt another chance from the spot which Kamada converted.
Hincapié equalized with a flying header in the 56th but that was as good as it got for Leverkusen - and the Ecuador defender, who was involved in all three of the next goals.
Hincapié couldn’t stop Kolo Muani from restoring Frankfurt’s lead two minutes later, then could only watch as Jesper Lindström made it 3-1 with a brilliant chip over Hrádecký in the 65th.
Hincapié conceded a penalty and was sent off with his second yellow card in the 72nd, before Kamada got his second goal from the spot.
Lucas Alario wrapped up the scoring in the 86th.
