Eintracht Frankfurt's 16-year-old Niko Iličević set a Bundesliga age record in the club's 3-1 victory over Hamburger SV, with the report stating that no player had made his debut at a younger age. His uncle Ivo once played for HSV. The win came at the end of the eighth matchday and lifted Frankfurt to eighth place on 11 points, ahead of their opponents.
Frankfurt had appointed Joti Chatzialexiou as its new sporting director from 1 February 2027 the day before the match. Before 59,600 spectators, Warmed Omari's own goal in the 10th minute opened the scoring, Raphael Onyedika made it 2-1 in the 47th and Younes Ebnoutalib added a third in the 69th. Terem Moffi had equalised for HSV in the 14th minute.
Despite a 3-1 cup win in Hamburg five days earlier, Frankfurt coach Adi Hütter changed four starters, including leaving Mario Götze and Jonathan Burkardt on the bench. HSV, dealing with personnel problems for weeks, made three changes to its starting line-up.
Frankfurt began strongly and created early chances. Can Uzun narrowly missed from the edge of the box after a corner, and Ebnoutalib was denied by HSV goalkeeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes. Frankfurt's pressure paid off when Omari turned Farès Chaïbi's low cross into his own net while trying to clear ahead of Ebnoutalib.
HSV responded four minutes later. After a failed clearance by Lilian Brassier, Albert Grönbaek played the ball into the middle, where Moffi finished from close range while unmarked. The visitors then played with more courage going forward but did not create major danger, while their defence held Frankfurt without a notable chance before half-time.
The second half began with another Frankfurt push, and the hosts scored 90 seconds after the restart. Heuer Fernandes parried a Brassier header directly to Onyedika, who scored without difficulty. Frankfurt kept pressing: a Chaïbi goal was disallowed for an earlier offside by provider Ansgar Knauff, but Ebnoutalib's sixth goal of the season stood. Heuer Fernandes later tipped a Chaïbi shot onto the crossbar.
For HSV, the defeat capped a week to forget after three straight wins. The club went out of the DFB-Pokal and lost in the league in Paderborn and Frankfurt. HSV are 15th and next face last-placed Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday.
Sources: Der Spiegel.