Union Berlin 3-3 Eintracht Frankfurt: a hat-trick, a late leveller, six goals of drama

Some games have everything, and this six-goal Bundesliga classic was one of them. Union Berlin and Eintracht Frankfurt served up a breathless 3-3, a match that swung one way and then the other before Union rescued a point at the very death. A young forward's hat-trick, a home side refusing to lose, and a 90th-minute equaliser — this was the kind of afternoon that leaves both sets of supporters emotionally wrung out and the neutral thoroughly entertained.

The story of the game was Younes Ebnoutalib. The Frankfurt forward scored a hat-trick, twice hauling his side back into a match Union kept threatening to control. He struck early to cancel out Emmanuel Latte Lath's 3rd-minute opener, and his third on 67 minutes looked as though it might prove the winner. A hat-trick away from home is a landmark day for any striker, and Ebnoutalib very nearly made it the difference. That he ended on the losing side of the goal ledger, rather than the winning one, will be his only regret.

For all Ebnoutalib's brilliance, Union simply would not accept defeat. Leopold Querfeld pulled them level on 79 minutes, and Tim Skarke completed the recovery with a 90th-minute equaliser to send the home crowd wild. The underlying numbers show why Union deserved their point: 1.92 expected goals to Frankfurt's 1.37, ten shots on target, and eight saves forced from the Frankfurt keeper. This was a home side that kept coming and coming, and finally got its reward.

Both teams can take something from this. Frankfurt will rue conceding a lead twice and letting a hat-trick go unrewarded, but they showed real attacking teeth on the road. Union, meanwhile, will feel their late equaliser was the least their persistence deserved — snatching a draw in the final seconds carries the emotional charge of a win. In a game this open and this dramatic, a shared spoils felt like a fair reflection of two sides that simply could not stop scoring.