01 November 1897
Frankfurt 1-5 Borussia Monchengladbach
Borussia Monchengladbach cruised to a fourth consecutive Bundesliga win under interim coach Andre Schubert by overcoming Frankfurt 5-1 on Saturday evening.
Raffael put Gladbach ahead in the 16th minute, but the hosts equalised on the half-hour mark when Alexander Meier converted from the penalty spot after a foul by Yann Sommer on Luc Castaignos in the 18-yard box.
The scores would be level for only five minutes, however, as Mahmoud Dahoud’s shot took a wicked deflection off David Abraham.
Following a spell of extended pressure, a decisive third goal would eventually arrive in the 57th minute when Raffael netted his second of the evening.
Andre Hahn came off the bench, replacing the Brazilian forward, to score a late brace of his own, including a penalty kick, as the Foals romped to yet another impressive victory that sees them enter their Champions League tie in Turin against Juventus in exceptional domestic form.
Manchester City 5-1 Bournemouth
It was five of the best also for Manchester City, who blew Bournemouth away with a convincing victory at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
With Sergio Aguero out injured, the onus lay on Raheem Sterling and Wilfried Bony to provide the firepower up front. And they didn’t disappoint, scoring a hat-trick and a brace respectively in a thoroughly commanding display by the home side.
It took just seven minutes for City to find the breakthrough with Sterling bagging his first of the encounter, before Bony doubled their lead from close-range.
Bournemouth may have fancied their chances of a comeback when Glenn Murray fired in from 20 yards, but only seven minutes later Sterling split open the visitors’ defence to score his second of the afternoon.
The 20-year-old then completed his first ever Premier League hat-trick on the stroke of half-time to leave their newly-promoted opposition with a mountain to climb in the second period.
Bony added a fifth in the 89th minute to cap off a supreme display by Manuel Pellegrini’s men, who maintain a two-point lead at the top of the table.
Eibar 1-1 Sevilla
Sevilla had to come from behind to salvage a point from a keenly-competed contest away at Eibar on Saturday evening.
Borja Baston put the Basque outfit in front after only eight minutes, heading in Saul Berjon’s cross to score his fifth in four games.
The visitors endured a very quiet first-half, during which they were often overpowered by their lively hosts, and did not create many chances until Yevhen Konoplyanka’s introduction in a wide forward position at the start of the second period.
The Ukraine international had a penalty shout turned down before Kevin Gameiro might have found the equaliser but could not convert from Vitolo’s cut-back.
The French forward would eventually draw his side level in the 71st minute, turning in Vicente Iborra’s deep cross, to assure Unai Emery’s men of a hard-fought point before Wednesday's testing Champions League trip to Manchester.
