Leverkusen fights past in-form Frankfurt to earn first Bundesliga win

Leverkusen, Sept. 14: Alejandro Grimaldo scored from two free kicks and Bayer Leverkusen beat in-form Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1 to record its first Bundesliga win and give coach Kasper Hjulmand a winning start to his reign.

Hjulmand has led Leverkusen for only a few days after Erik ten Hag was sacked just two games into the season. The morale-boosting victory came despite Leverkusen playing the last half hour with 10 men following the dismissal of captain Robert Andrich. Teammate Ezequiel Férnandez was also sent off in stoppage time.

They started fast. Grimaldo curled in a beautiful free kick with only 10 minutes on the clock. Patrik Schick's penalty made it 2-0 on the stroke of halftime after Nathan Tella was brought down by Frankfurt captain Robert Koch.

Can Uzun threatened to dampen the home fans' optimism when he made it 2-1 early in the second half but no comeback materialized even after Andrich's dismissal for a second bookable offense in the 59th minute.

Instead, Grimaldo iced the win with another superb free kick in stoppage time. Relief swept the BayArena following a tumultuous start to the season. Ten Hag was chosen to rebuild the squad after a summer exodus in the wake of coach Xabi Alonso's departure for Real Madrid. Few players remain from the Bundesliga and German Cup champions in 2024.

However, the experienced Dutchman was unable to stamp his authority on players who ignored his instructions and argued among themselves in a 3-3 draw with Werder Bremen on Aug. 30.

He was fired and replaced with Hjulmand, who had just two trainings to prepare his charges to face Frankfurt, a team whose record after two league games was bettered only by Bayern Munich.

The former Denmark coach, whose previous experience in the Bundesliga was a short and unsatisfactory stint in charge of Mainz in 2014-15, had been out of work for more than a year since Denmark's last-16 exit at the European Championship. Meanwhile, substitute Peque Fernández scored with five minutes remaining to give Sevilla a 2-2 home draw against Elche in La Liga.

However, newly promoted Elche continued to impress by extending its unbeaten start to the season to four games. Isaac Romero put Sevilla ahead with an opportunistic strike from 18 meters out. André da Silva equalized after a nice cutback from Martim Neto early in the second half and Rafa Mir put the visitors ahead with a smart free kick after 70 minutes.

Sevilla had not lost at home to Elche in the league since the 1967-68 season, and it took a late intervention from Fernández to preserve that record. The striker had been on the pitch for only six minutes when he ran on to a cute backheel from Alexis Sanchez to whip the ball into the roof of the net.

Elche was sixth in La Liga, one of six unbeaten teams. Sevilla was 11th with four points from four games.

Similarly, French World Cup winner Benjamin Pavard scored on debut as Marseille hit the net four times without reply in a commanding win over Lorient in Ligue 1.

Lorient played for most of the match with 10 men after Darline Yongwa was shown a straight red card for a professional foul after just 10 minutes. Mason Greenwood put Marseille ahead from the penalty spot immiediately after and Pavard, who signed on loan from Inter Mlian before the international break, headed home from a corner seven minutes later.

Angel Gomes flicked up a loose ball outside the box and volleyed a stunning third. Marseille dominated the second period but it took until stoppage time for the fourth goal, a Nayef Aguerd shot deflecting past the stranded goalkeeper.

The result came just a week after Lorient was hammered 7-1 at home by Lille and leaves the Breton club languishing third from bottom after four games. Marseille maintained a perfect home record. (AP)