Makoto Hasebe and Yuya Kubo face each other as Eintracht Frankfurt beat relegation-threatened FC Nurnberg 1 – 0 in the Bundesliga.
Hasebe started the match as libero, his ninth consecutive full appearance, while Kubo played on the opposite side for 81 minutes. The two Japanese played against each other with contrasting fortunes: Eintracht Frankfurt have reached the quarterfinal of the Europa League and undefeated in 12 matches, while Nurnberg are rock bottom of the Bundesliga and have not won for 19 matches.
Frankfurt dictated the play from the start. In the 31st minute, Filip Kostic received a through pass from the left and he sent the ball across for defender Martin Hinteregger to tap home. Moments later, Goncalo Paciencia had a goal disallowed for offside. Luck was not on his side as he then had his goal-bound header hitting the crossbar in the second half.
Nurnberg tried to fight back, but was all in all ineffective and the matched ended 1 – 0.
With 26 matches played, Eintracht Frankfurt is 5th and remain in contention for a place in next year’s Champions League, while FC Nurnberg is rooted at the bottom of the table, 11 points from safety.
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Source: Yahoo
Images: gettyimages
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