Burke hat-trick - Union wins seven-goal game in Frankfurt

After the Champions League gala, Eintracht Frankfurt also delivered a great show in the Bundesliga against 1. FC Union Berlin on Sunday - but this time without a happy ending.

With a hat trick from Oliver Burke (32nd minute, 53rd, 56th) and the fourth goal of the season from Ilyas Ansah (9th), Union stole a 4-3 (2-1) victory on matchday 4, which was threatened in the closing stages by a double strike from Can Uzun (80th) and Jonathan Burkardt (87th, penalty) after Nathaniel Brown's (45th+4th) goal in the first half.

After two recent defeats, Union coach Steffen Baumgart's team, who was sent off in the closing stages (89th minute), appears to have recovered for the time being and is currently mid-table with six points. " A highly emotional game at the end ," Baumgart said in an interview with Sportschau: " To deliver such a performance here against Frankfurt is a very, very good performance from us. "

Frankfurt , on the other hand, was brought back down to earth by their second consecutive league defeat after their 5-1 Champions League victory against Galatasaray Istanbul. With six points, they're now somewhat out of the running with the top group. Nevertheless, coach Dino Toppmöller didn't want to blame the team on the Sportschau microphone. " The boys pushed endlessly. It was a tough day ," said Toppmöller. " In the end, it's about correcting the cheap mistakes we made. "

The first few minutes belonged to the Eintracht Frankfurt fans, who celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Waldstadion in Frankfurt with a massive choreography through the stadium featuring pictures, lettering, and thousands of black and white pieces of paper. Since some of the ball-shaped pieces of paper also found their way onto the pitch, the game was somewhat delayed.

This didn't dampen Frankfurt's attacking momentum, however. After just over five minutes, Brown tested Union goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow with a floating ball from the left wing. Eintracht Frankfurt were immediately on top offensively, but weren't quite up to par defensively. During Berlin's first attack, the hosts had several opportunities to clear the ball, but repeatedly played it into the feet of their advancing opponents.

The ball landed in the center with Ansah, who quickly turned just 20 meters from the goal and fired a powerful shot into the left corner to give Union a 1-0 lead. Coach Dino Toppmöller's team shook off the deficit and kept the pressure on. With over 70 percent possession at times and a decent number of shots on goal, Eintracht fans hoped for a quick equalizer. For example, Uzun (20') fired a shot from 20 meters straight at Rönnow.

The visitors then showed how to score goals. Berlin made it 2-0 with their second shot on goal. Following a Frankfurt corner, they quickly advanced through four stations. Burke ran through the center and left Kaua Santos in the Frankfurt goal no chance. Frankfurt now seemed a bit perplexed, especially because Union defended with great passion and extremely compactly.

Things only got tense again in the closing stages of the half. Elye Wahi (43') narrowly missed a cross from Brown. It took a deflected shot to send Frankfurt into the break with a better feeling. A shot from Brown found its way into the net off Uzun's heel to make it 1-2.

Frankfurt entered the second half with momentum, and even had the first shot on goal with a Uzun header in the 51st minute. But Union then needed less than three magical minutes from the attacking trio of Ansah, Burke, and Andrej Ilic to seemingly put the Hesse side out of the running. First, Ansah robustly held the ball against three men and laid it on to Ilic on the left. The Serbian chipped a clever pass to Burke, who headed the ball into the net to make it 3-1.

Shortly thereafter, Ilic again skillfully lifted the ball into Burke's path on a counterattack, and he coolly completed his hat trick with a one-on-one finish in front of Santos, making it 4-1. Toppmöller immediately switched up his attack, bringing on Burkardt and Ansgar Knauff (61'). Frankfurt also played a dominant role after that. But Union sat deep and very secure for a long time.

In the closing stages, Uzun woke the team and fans once again with a crisp shot from 14 meters to make it 2-4. It became intense and emotional. Frankfurt called for a penalty when Burkardt went down against Leopold Querfeldt in the penalty area. And referee Sven Jablonski awarded it after reviewing the video footage. Burkardt unceremoniously blasted the penalty into the center of the goal to make it 3-4.

On the sidelines, Union Berlin coach Baumgart took off his cap and became so upset about the decision that he received a red card. " That's completely my fault. The referee didn't do anything wrong, " the Berlin coach admitted to Sportschau. Baumgart, however, declined to reveal what he saw the red card for: " I got a yellow card because I got upset, and then I did something else, and that was justified. "

TV images show the Union coach gesturing with his middle finger on the touchline. " I was looking into space, it didn't go in any direction, so it was all good. That was an emotion I had because of the video evidence and the previous situation ," Baumgart later explained at the press conference. Whether this will have any repercussions has not yet been determined. He will definitely be on the bench for the next game.

But even without him on the sidelines, things got even hotter. Spurred on by the home fans, Eintracht Frankfurt continued to push forward relentlessly during the ten minutes of added time. Things became hectic and crowded in the Berlin penalty area – but the equalizer just wouldn't come.

" It was a lot for our heads. But we're happy that we got it over the finish line ," Union's goalscorer Ansah told Sportschau about the away win.

Eintracht Frankfurt will host Borussia Mönchengladbach on Matchday 5 on Saturday evening (September 27, 2025, 6:30 p.m.). Union Berlin, without Steffen Baumgart, will host newly promoted Hamburger SV in the Coaching Zone at 7:30 p.m. the following day.

• football
• Bundesliga
• Eintracht Frankfurt
• 1. FC Union Berlin