Frankfurt beat Hamburg 3:1 as 16-year-old Ilicevic ties Bundesliga record

A 3:1 win over the same opponent

Eintracht Frankfurt beat Hamburger SV 3:1 at home on Sunday, 1 November, in the eighth round of the Bundesliga. It was the second meeting in five days: on Tuesday, 27 October, Frankfurt had won the DFB-Pokal tie in Hamburg by the same 3:1 scoreline, knocking HSV out of the cup. The victory lifted Frankfurt to eighth place with 11 points, ahead of HSV, who are 15th on nine points. It was Frankfurt's third league win of the season and HSV's fifth league defeat, in front of 59,600 spectators.

Ilicevic's debut in stoppage time

Niko Ilicevic turned 16 on Saturday, 31 October, and made his Bundesliga debut the following day, coming on in the third minute of stoppage time. With that appearance he equalled the record for the youngest player ever used in Germany's top flight, a mark Youssoufa Moukoko set when he debuted for Borussia Dortmund on 21 November 2020, aged 16 years and one day. Ilicevic, born on 31 October 2010, has been in Frankfurt's youth system since 2019 and has also played for Germany's U16 and U17 teams. Before the match, coach Adi Hütter had said the teenager would probably be in the squad and that he would bring him on if the situation allowed. Hütter also called it his duty to handle such a young player very carefully and patiently.

“If the situation allows me to bring him on, I will do it.”

After the game, striker Younes Ebnoutalib praised the teenager's maturity to DAZN.

“It is really something that at 16 he is already this good and this mature in his head.”

How the goals came

Frankfurt started briskly, and Warmed Omari put the ball into his own net in the 10th minute after a low cross from Fares Chaibi. HSV replied four minutes later, when Terem Moffi was left unmarked and scored from close range after a misjudged defensive action by Frankfurt's Lilian Brassier and a pass from Albert Grönbaek. The hosts regained the lead in the 47th minute, when HSV goalkeeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes could only push a Brassier header straight to Raphael Onyedika, who scored about 90 seconds after the restart. Younes Ebnoutalib made it 3:1 in the 69th minute, and the goals came in the sequence shown below.

Reaction and what follows

For HSV, lapses in defensive concentration decided the match, as the side was not alert enough for Omari's own goal or for the second and third goals. Hamburg's defence was also missing Sebastiaan Bornauw, who was injured in the cup tie. HSV's next match is at home on Friday, 6 November, against Borussia Mönchengladbach, coached by Alexander Blessin, the former St. Pauli coach, with kick-off at 20:30. The table after the eighth matchday shows Frankfurt on 11 points and Hamburg on nine.

Eintracht Frankfurt11

Hamburger SV9

Eintracht Frankfurt

11 points

Hamburger SV

9 points

Data from the article text

Frankfurt also announced on Saturday, 31 October, that Joti Chatzialexiou would join as sporting director from 1 February 2027. The club's next steps in the league will show whether the win over HSV marks a turn in its form.