BERLIN (Xinhua) -
Eintracht Frankfurt went top of UEFA Europa League Group D after overpowering Olympiacos with goals from Rafael Santos Borre, Almamy Toure and Daichi Kamada on Thursday.
Both sides were eyeing top spot and staged a lively opening period as Olympiacos’ Youssef El-Arabi missed the goal from a promising position in the 12th minute, before Kamade headed narrowly wide at the other end moments later.
Frankfurt gained momentum and created another opportunity in the 20th minute when Borre nodded over from close range. Borre remained in the thick of things as he forced goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik to make a save on the goal line in the 23rd minute.
Olympiacos simply couldn’t stop Borre, who earned a penalty after being fouled by Pape Abdou Cisse in the 25th minute. Borre himself stepped up and made no mistake to break the deadlock from the spot.
The visitors from Greece shocked Frankfurt out of the blue two minutes later when defender Kristijan Jakic handled the ball inside the box. El-Arabi kept his cool from the spot and leveled the scores to silence the home supporters at the half-hour mark.
Frankfurt continued on the front foot but Toure couldn’t direct his volley goalwards after Filip Kostic’s good build-up work with 37 minutes played.
The Eagles’ efforts paid off before half-time, as Olympiacos couldn’t clear the ball from the area when Martin Hinteregger’s header hit the woodwork, allowing Toure to tap home Djibril Sow’s square pass in first-half added time.
After the break, Frankfurt sat back and let Olympiacos do the work. The visitors, ho wever, lacked in penetration and ideas to overcome Frankfurt’s well-positioned defense.
Frankfurt then established a two-goal lead at the hour mark after Vaclik parried Gonaclo Paciencia’s long-range effort into the path of Kamada, who clinically rounded the goalkeeper before poking home into a empty net.
Olympiacos’ resistance was broken while Frankfurt relentlessly pushed forward without doing much damage in the closing stages.
“We showed a reaction after our poor performance in the Bundesliga. We played powerfully from the kick-off and wrapped up a deserved victory after 90 minutes. If we continue to play like today, we can win the group,” said Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.