A five-star first-half performance helped Frankfurt ruthlessly hunt down Bundesliga basement boys Borussia Mönchengladbach 6-4 at BORUSSIA-PARK.
Despite only league leaders and champions Bayern Munich finding the back of the net more frequently in 2025/26, Frankfurt hadn’t triumphed in their last eight away league matches (D3, L5) played on a Saturday evening, but they only took 11 minutes to go ahead in a landslide opening 45 minutes.
Up from the back for Fares Chaïbi’s incoming set-piece swinger, there was only one idea in Robin Koch’s mind as he glanced an unstoppable header past Moritz Nicolas.
Now in free flow, Frankfurt needed only four more minutes to double their lead. Alert to Ritsu Doan’s cross-shot towards goal, Ansgar Knauff expertly kept his eye on the ball as he sublimely swept home his fellow attacker’s assist for the third goal across all competitions this season.
It was almost an immediate response from Gladbach straight from the restart as Kaua Santos produced a smart save to deny Jens Castrop, but the usual rhythm soon returned.
Gladbach simply couldn’t live with Frankfurt, and the game was over as a contest following two more quick-fire goals. Jonathan Burkardt confidently finished from inside the area after a must-see assist from Can Uzun, before Doan assisted for the second time, putting the ball on a plate for Chaïbi to get his name on the scoresheet.
To compound Gladbach’s first-half misery, Chaibi’s exquisite backheel allowed Uzun to add a Frankfurt fifth in injury time.
The devastating first-half trend continued after only two second-half minutes, as Koch bagged his brace at the back post, courtesy of Nathaniel Brown’s delightful delivery.
Not wanting to be left out of the celebrations, Santos initially stuck out a strong palm to repel Kevin Diks’ effort before producing an even better one-handed save to keep out Haris Tabakovic’s header shortly after the hour mark.
However, the momentum suddenly changed on 72 minutes when Castrop took advantage of some woeful Frankfurt defending to connect with Joe Scally’s cross, before Tabakovic marked his cameo off the bench by powerfully heading home from close range.
There was still time for Yannik Engelhardt and then Grant-Leon Ranos deep into injury time to restore some pride in the scoreline for Gladbach.
Nevertheless, six of the best from Frankfurt see them soar up three places to fourth position in the table. Meanwhile, Gladbach’s defeat equals an unwanted narrative in the already struggling hosts’ record books – with the Foals now matching January 2007’s unwanted accolade of no league win throughout 12 matches.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Can Uzun (Frankfurt)
Click here for more on the match
