Meier magic rescues Frankfurt in eight-goal thriller
Frankfurt - Alexander Meier was the man of the moment for Eintracht Frankfurt as the Bundesliga’s top goalscorer grabbed two late goals in just over a minute to complete a comeback of epic proportions in a 4-4 draw at home to Hertha Berlin.
Hertha show no mercy
The visitors raced out to a three-goal lead thanks to efforts from John Anthony Brooks, Änis Ben-Hatira and Julian Schieber before Stefan Aigner pulled a goal back before half-time. Haris Seferovic got in on the goalscoring act after the restart only to see Peter Niemeyer restore Hertha’s two-goal lead, but Meier was on hand late on to ensure Frankfurt’s efforts were not in vain.
Frankfurt established an early control on the encounter and should have taken the lead when Meier contrived to fire over from 18 yards. Instead it was the ruthless efficiency of the visitors that produced the opener, as Brooks turned home Ronny’s rocket of a free-kick from 45 yards.
The Brazilian was again the provider in the 34th minute with Ben-Hatira’s deft header going in off the post before Schieber made it three shots, three goals for the capital city side, leaving Frankfurt shell-shocked. However, the Eagles stayed true to their game plan in spite of the scoreline and were duly rewarded as Stefan Aigner’s back-post tap-in reduced the arrears going in at the break.
Meier produces the magic moments
The pace of proceedings didn’t wane at the start of the second half and fuel was added to the fire in terms of Frankfurt’s hopes of producing a comeback when Seferovic headed home from Makoto Hasebe’s pin-point cross. Yet after failing to build on their momentum, Frankfurt’s porous backline came back to haunt them with Niemeyer grabbing a fourth for the visitors.
However, there was still to be a sensational twist in the tale, as Meier netted his 11th and 12th goals of the current campaign in the 90th and 91st minute respectively to complete the most dramatic of comebacks, whilst cementing the Eagles’ mid-table position going into their final game of 2014 against Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
Line-ups and statistics
