Sitting just one point ahead of the hosts following a 5-1 demolition job over Leverkusen, Frankfurt got off to a vitalizing start within a few minutes, drawing first blood via Jesper Lindstrom’s remarkable individual effort that ended with a strike from inside the penalty area into the middle of the goal.
Nonetheless, Gladbach responded with grit through successive efforts from Marcus Thuram and Lars Stindl, but they struggled to find the back of the net, thanks mainly to Kevin Trapp, who proved stubborn between the posts.
Eric Junior Dina Ebimbe then found himself unmarked during a corner kick, as he went on to fully capitalize with a towering header directed inside the right post to put Die Adler 2-0 up on the half-hour mark.
Perhaps still reeling from being knocked out of the DFB-Pokal second round to SV Darmstadt 98, Gladbach looked visibly frustrated and quickly conceded a third just before the break as Lindstrom’s shot from inside the box rendered Tobias Sippel merely a standing spectator.
Die Fohlen were not spared a moment’s peace once the match resumed, as they continued to be suffocated in the middle third, looking largely lethargic in midfield battles.
Comfortably, the visitors carried on with their calm tempo, kicking about and frustrating the home crowd, who were modestly treated to witnessing their team crumble minute after minute.
However, a moment of hope arose just as the final quarter-hour dawned, thanks to Thuram’s quick thinking as he buried the ball into the bottom right corner to go level with Werder Bremen’s Niclas Fullkrug as the league’s top scorer with eight goals.
The result sees Die Fohlen maintain their inconsistent form which has so far kept them from really taking off this season. Each of their results have differed from the last in league action, except this, as they succumb to a second straight defeat.
Meanwhile, Frankfurt hand the hosts a second loss in eight home league outings and head into the top four despite entering this match as pre-match outsiders unfancied by the bookmakers.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jesper Lindstrøm (Eintracht Frankfurt)