Bundesliga: Eintracht Frankfurt celebrates opening victory against Werder Bremen

A brilliant Can Uzun gave Eintracht Frankfurt a truly impressive start to the new Bundesliga season. Bremen had little to offer in the way of opposition. The Hesse team ultimately celebrated a 4-1 (2-0) victory against the northern Germans on Saturday afternoon.

Uzun put the hosts 2-0 ahead with two beautiful moves. First, he fired Eintracht Frankfurt ahead with a stunning goal from a good 20 meters (22'), then demonstrated his excellent eye for his teammates. His smooth chip to Jean Bahoya provided the perfect assist for the header that made it 2-0 (25').

But the duo of Uzun and Bahoya hadn't yet shown their full potential: They continued to work together perfectly in the second period, with Bahoya again scoring the winner (47th minute). Werder Bremen, however, showed good nerves and scored their first goal in the 48th minute thanks to a fine solo effort from Justin Njinmah. Ansgar Knauff then doubled the lead to 4-1 (71st minute) from a counterattack, sealing the game for Frankfurt. Eintracht Uzun scored a goal and provided two assists in their first game of the season – a strong debut.

After the cup exit in Bielefeld, new coach Horst Steffen tried to send his Werder team into the Bundesliga opener without any pressure. The visitors' high level of self-confidence quickly became apparent when Marco Grüll tested his former teammate Michael Zetterer with a low, hidden shot in the second minute. But the keeper was on the spot.

On the other side, however, things were a bit rocky: Center forward Johnny Burkardt tried to convert a corner from the left with a long shot at the far post, but his shot hit the post. The rebound surprised Arthur Theate , who was standing just a meter away.

Both teams lost crucial players during the summer break, but Frankfurt seemed to have handled the departures better. Take goalkeeping, for example: Zetterer, as Kevin Trapp's successor, had a stabilizing effect, while his successor in Bremen, Mio Backhaus, played his first league game. And he showed nerves – which affected the back line.

They were completely overwhelmed when Hugo Larsson, midway through the first half, pulled apart the visitors' back line with a cross pass to Uzun, creating plenty of space for Can Uzun. He set up the ball with a stunned winger and then shot from distance. Backhaus saw the ball late and had no chance against the powerful, well-placed shot.

The 21-year-old goalkeeper also had no real chance against Bahoya's header, as his teammates had completely lost sight of the Frenchman.

According to observers, Uzun had used the summer to hone his skills and make significant progress. He was also somewhat fortunate that the ball stayed with him before the 3-0 goal. But his preparation for Bahoya's second goal was the result of an intensive summer. Coach Dino Toppmöller earned him a standing ovation from the Eintracht fans in the 75th minute—the game had long been decided—when he was substituted off, rewarding him for his outstanding performance.

At this point, Uzun had initiated Njinmah's 1-3 goal with a misplaced pass - but this was lost in the outstanding overall impression of the performance of the 19-year-old teenager.

Werder's left-back Felix Agu had already initiated the 0-3 from Bremen's perspective, and he made another blunder before the 4-1. What can only be described as "extremely unfortunate" revealed the (still) desolate defensive work of the Green-Whites: In both situations, the player was completely lacking in cover – Horst Steffen's team's defense appears to be their biggest Achilles heel for now. The transfer market is still open.

Frankfurt travels to Sinsheim next Saturday (3:30 p.m.). Bremen will host their first tough opponent, Leverkusen, in their first home game of the season at the Weserstadion (3:30 p.m.). They will then face Mönchengladbach, Freiburg, and Munich.

• football
• Bundesliga
• Eintracht Frankfurt
• Werder Bremen