Nils Petersen hat-trick takes Freiburg past Eintracht Frankfurt

Nils Petersen came off the bench to score a hat-trick as Freiburg recorded a 4-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt to climb off the bottom of the table this afternoon.

It was a disastrous start for the league's bottom side, as Frankfurt broke the deadlock in the opening minute when Marc Stendera's cross eventually reached Marco Russ, who kept his composure to fire home.

The early goal was a sign of what was to come as Frankfurt dominated possession to leave the home supporters frustrated.

Despite their superiority, chances were difficult to come by in the first half, but they came close to doubling their lead just before the break when Stendera's swerving strike was tipped wide by Roman Burki.

Frankfurt continued to look comfortable after the break, but they were left stunned by two goals in two minutes from the hosts.

Freiburg were gifted the chance to equalise when Stefan Aigner brought down Christian Gunter inside the box to allow Vladimir Darida to fire home from 12 yards.

The home side then took the lead through Petersen, who collected a clever pass from Felxi Klaus before turning to curl past a helpless Kevin Trapp.

Petersen then piled the misery on Frankfurt by extending the advantage with a powerful header after peeling away from his marker inside the box.

A response from Frankfurt seemed inevitable, but Freiburg were comfortable in the latter stages and Petersen capitalised on more hesitancy in the visiting defence to complete his hat-trick with an emphatic finish.