Agency :
Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen extended their season-long unbeaten run to 48 games with a 5-1 win at Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.
With Xabi Alonso forced to watch from the stands due to a yellow card suspension, Leverkusen turned on the style, winning with goals from Granit Xhaka, Patrik Schick, Jeremie Frimpong and penalties from Exequiel Palacios and Victor Boniface.
“We had control of the game,” Xhaka told DAZN.
“We wanted to stay undefeated, we did that again – and we are really close to achieving something very special.”
Alonso left midfield lynchpin Florian Wirtz, who turned 21 Friday, out of the squad with Thursday’s second Europa League semi-final against Roma in mind, but Leverkusen had no problems in attack.
Xhaka opened the scoring with a long-range effort, before Frankfurt equalized through Hugo Ekitike, who scored for the third game in succession.
Schick headed Leverkusen back in front just before half-time and World Cup winner Palacios scored a third from the penalty spot on the 58-minute mark.
The floodgates opened in the final stages, with Frimpong scoring just five minutes after coming on and then won a penalty with three minutes remaining.
Boniface converted the spot kick for Leverkusen’s first win in Frankfurt for six years.
Leverkusen, who are unbeaten in 48 across all competitions, 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.
