André Silva made history by breaking the record for most Bundesliga goals scored in a single season by an Eintracht Frankfurt player on Saturday with a brace in their 4-3 defeat to Schalke.
Frankfurt are enduring a disastrous end to the season, with Champions League football slipping out of their hands, but Silva has ensured his name is written into the club record books by scoring his 27th league goal of the campaign.
World Cup winner and club legend Bernd Hölzenbein’s record of 26 goals in the German top flight had stood since the 1976/77 season. Silva came into the trip to Schalke one goal away from matching the feat with two games left to play, and the former Porto man’s double led to a personal milestone against the backdrop of the team’s disappointing end of season slump.
Silva’s first of the afternoon came just before the half hour mark when he nodded in Amin Younes’ cross at the back post. Although the Portuguese was acutely aware that his goal had equalled the club record, there was little sign of joy on Silva’s face as he and his side recovered the ball with the intention of turning the game around.
However, Frankfurt’s recent defensive woes would continue and Silva’s side were to find themselves 4-2 when Matthew Hoppe received the ball from Gonçalo Paciência and scored a superb individual goal. As such, Silva’s consolation on 72 minutes from close range drew little emotion from the striker in what should have been a moment of relief and pride as he notched goal number 27 in the league.
Silva came into the match having been named in the Official Bundesliga Team of the Season on Friday. The 25-year-old joined illustrious contemporaries Erling Haaland and Roberto Lewandowski in the starting eleven, which was devised by a combination of the 18 Bundesliga club captains, associates and community votes.
Whether Silva stays at Deutsche Bank Park this summer remains to be seen. Frankfurt’s awful form during the closing stages of the season appears to have cost them Champions League football, and well-placed sources have indicated that agent Jorge Mendes has secured a personal agreement that Silva can leave the club for a fee of around €30m.
By Sean Gillen
