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| Mario Goetze of Frankfurt controls the ball during the Bundesliga match between SV Werder Bremen and Eintracht Frankfurt at Wohninvest Weserstadion on August 28, 2022 in Bremen, Germany. |
Germany’s World
Cup-winning hero Mario Gotze has scored his first Bundesliga goal since late
2019 as his Eintracht Frankfurt side won 4-3 at Werder Bremen in a frantic game.
Sunday’s victory moved
Frankfurt up to 11th with their first league win of the campaign, one spot
behind promoted Bremen after four games.
Gotze, who scored the
winner in the 2014 World Cup final against Argentina, has returned to the
Bundesliga after two years at PSV Eindhoven in the Dutch Eredivisie, and netted
with his first shot on target of the season after just two minutes.
But Bremen, who were
3-2 winners at Borussia Dortmund last weekend with three late goals, hit back
through Anthony Jung and a looping header from Leonardo Bittencourt, who soon
limped off injured.
Frankfurt were level
after 32 minutes of a breathless first half when French forward Randal Kolo
Muani stormed through the defence to score.
Jesper Lindstrom then
netted for the Europa League winners after 39 minutes with a clever dinked
finish at the near post.
Djibril Sow completed
the Frankfurt scoring with a fine goal early in the second half and Niclas
Fullkrug’s stoppage-time penalty came too late for the hosts.
“After such a long
time it was nice to score and it was an important goal,” Gotze told DAZN.
“Scoring four goals as a team is always good.”
Frankfurt captain Kevin
Trapp, who during the week turned down Manchester United and saw his side drawn
in one of the easier Champions League groups, added: “It was a very
emotional week, lots happening and very positive too.”
In Sunday’s early game,
VfB Stuttgart had the better chances but had to settle for a 0-0 draw at
Cologne after being reduced to 10 men in the second half.
Cologne, lacking a
powerful striker after Anthony Modeste’s departure for Borussia Dortmund, could
not impose themselves, even after Stuttgart’s Luca Pfeiffer was sent off on 56
minutes for catching Timo Hubers on the ankle with a wild challenge.
Stuttgart coach
Pellegrino Matarazzo was later sent from the dug-out for protesting.
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