Volland treble helps Leverkusen to 4-1 win over Eintracht
Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Bayer Leverkusen v Eintracht Frankfurt - BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany - April 14, 2018 Bayer Leverkusen's Kevin Volland celebrates scoring a goal REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay
BERLIN (Reuters) - Bayer Leverkusen's Kevin Volland grabbed his first Bundesliga hat-trick in a 4-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, fellow rivals for a Champions League spot, as they tightened their grip on fourth place on Saturday.
The 25-year-old forward charged through in the 71st minute to put Leverkusen 2-1 in front after Julian Brandt had fired the hosts ahead in the 20th only for Marco Fabian to draw Frankfurt level three minutes later.
Volland, with only an outside chance of earning a place in Germany's World Cup squad, added another six minutes later with an easy tap-in and completed his treble with an almost identical goal two minutes from time for his 14th league goal this season.
Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Bayer Leverkusen v Eintracht Frankfurt - BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany - April 14, 2018 Bayer Leverkusen's Benjamin Henrichs in action with Eintracht Frankfurt's Jetro Willems REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay
It was a bitter defeat for Frankfurt coach Niko Kovac the day after it was announced he will join Bayern Munich next season, as his club slipped to sixth, five points behind Leverkusen who have 51, with four games left.
The top four clubs qualify for next season's lucrative Champions League group stage.
Treble-chasing Bayern Munich, who secured their sixth straight title last week, host Borussia Moenchengladbach later on Saturday.
Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Bayer Leverkusen v Eintracht Frankfurt - BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany - April 14, 2018 Bayer Leverkusen's Julian Brandt in action with Eintracht Frankfurt's Jetro Willems REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay
But their eyes will be firmly on next week's German Cup semi-final against Leverkusen and the looming Champions League last four clash with Real Madrid later this month.
Schalke 04, on 52 points, and Borussia Dortmund, a point behind them in third, will battle it out for second place when they meet in the Ruhr valley derby on Sunday.
Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Bayer Leverkusen v Eintracht Frankfurt - BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany - April 14, 2018 Eintracht Frankfurt's Marco Fabian scores their first goal REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Ken Ferris)
Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Bayer Leverkusen v Eintracht Frankfurt - BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany - April 14, 2018 Eintracht Frankfurt's Marco Fabian celebrates scoring their first goal with Marius Wolf REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Bayer Leverkusen v Eintracht Frankfurt - BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany - April 14, 2018 Bayer Leverkusen's Julian Brandt celebrates scoring their first goal with team mates REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Bayer Leverkusen v Eintracht Frankfurt - BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany - April 14, 2018 Bayer Leverkusen's Panagiotis Retsos in action with Eintracht Frankfurt's Jetro Willems REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Bayer Leverkusen v Eintracht Frankfurt - BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany - April 14, 2018 Bayer Leverkusen's Kevin Volland scores their second goal REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Bayer Leverkusen v Eintracht Frankfurt - BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany - April 14, 2018 Bayer Leverkusen's Kevin Volland celebrates scoring a goal with team mates REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay
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