Leverkusen win 3-1 with nine men in first match since Erik ten Hag sacking

Bayer Leverkusen rallied to a 3-1 Bundesliga victory over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday despite finishing the match with nine men, sealing their first league win of the season in the club’s first game since the dismissal of Erik ten Hag.

Alejandro Grimaldo opened the scoring and later struck again to secure the win, while Patrik Schick also scored for the hosts. Can Uzun pulled one back for Frankfurt. Leverkusen saw Robert Andrich and Equi Fernandez sent off in the second half, reducing them to nine players, but they held on to lift themselves off the bottom of the table.

The match at the BayArena was Kasper Hjulmand’s first in charge after he was appointed earlier this month following the abrupt departure of Ten Hag. Leverkusen took control through Grimaldo’s initial strike and Schick’s contribution, but Frankfurt’s Uzun narrowed the deficit before the two red cards for the hosts left the match tense late on. Grimaldo’s late goal sealed the three points.

Ten Hag, 55, had been appointed in May to replace Xabi Alonso but was sacked earlier this month after just three games in charge — a spell of 62 days that one report described as among the quickest in Bundesliga history. Reports in the days leading to his dismissal cited dressing-room unrest, disagreements with the board over transfers and dissatisfaction among staff and players with his training methods. Local reports said some players were "bemused" by aspects of his regime.

In a statement released via his agency SEG, Ten Hag described his sacking as "unprecedented" and said the club had not given him "the time and trust" to rebuild after a summer of significant departures. Leverkusen managing director Simon Rolfes told club channels that "building a new and successful team with this setup is not feasible," explaining the board’s decision.

The turmoil marked another high-profile managerial exit for a former Manchester United coach in recent days. Ten Hag’s dismissal followed the departures of other ex-United managers at foreign clubs this week, according to reports.

Leverkusen now have a Champions League trip to Copenhagen in midweek before returning to domestic action against Borussia Mönchengladbach, fixtures that will test whether Hjulmand can steady a team that has endured a turbulent start to the campaign. The win offered immediate relief in the short term, moving the side up the table and providing supporters a measure of optimism after a chaotic week for the club.