FRANKFURT: Champions Bayer Leve­rkusen extended their unbeaten stre­ak as they hammered Eintracht Fra­n­kfurt 5-1 in the Bundesliga on Sunday.

The result leaves Xabi Alonso’s Leve­r­kusen at the summit with 84 points, whi­le Frankfurt sit sixth with 45. Leve­rkusen’s record unbeaten run now exte­nds to 48 matches across all competitions.

The result meant Leverkusen drew level with Benfica’s record unbeaten run in all competitions, including Euro­pean tournaments. The Portuguese club set their streak from December 1963 to February 1965.

Leverkusen broke the deadlock after 13 minutes when Granit Xhaka received the ball outside the box and sent a curling shot into the net.

The visitors could have gone two ahead minutes later but a valiant effort from the Frankfurt defence denied Leverkusen a clear opportunity on an open goal.

Frankfurt equalised after 33 minutes when Hugo Ekitike timed his run into the box perfectly, stealing in behind the entire Leverkusen defence to direct a downward header into the net from close range.

Leverkusen regained the lead just before halftime with Patrick Schick’s towering header, and secured their third goal in the 58th minute from a penalty converted by Exequiel Palacios after Niels Nkounkou pulled Nathan Tella by his shirt.

Jeremie Frimpong added a fourth for the visitors in the 77th minute, while Victor Boniface made it five from the penalty spot a minute before time after Ansgar Knauff tripped Frimpong.

Leverkusen need to avoid defeat in two remaining league matches to become the first team to go unbeaten through a Bundesliga season.

“That’s our challenge,” Alonso said after the match. “A big challenge. Just two games to go and if we make that, it will be almost perfect. We’ll try it.”

Alonso’s side have a 2-0 advantage ahead of Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg at home against AS Roma and are through to the final of the German Cup, keeping their dreams of an incredible unbeaten treble alive.

Earlier on Sunday, Bochum won 4-3 at Union Berlin, pushing the hosts closer to the drop just months after they were playing in the Champions League.

Mainz 05’s 1-1 draw at Heidenheim later on Sunday netted them a point and means Union are now just one point clear of the relegation play-off spot with two games remaining.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2024