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Donny van de Beek put in a decent cameo off the bench as his Eintracht Frankfurt side put in a strong performance which saw them beat Hoffenheim 3-1 yesterday.
The Dutchman has had a poor loan move to date, failing to contribute a goal or an assist.
The 26 year old started off in the first eleven for the Bundesliga outfit but after failing to make any sort of impression, he has once again been relegated to that of benchwarmer.
The poor performances have led to Frankfurt’s local paper condemning the move as a failure and suggesting that there is no chance the German side look to make the deal permanent in the summer.
In this particular encounter, Hoffenheim raced into an early lead after six minutes but goals from Robin Koch, Eric Junior Dina Ebimbe and Mario Gotze put Frankfurt into a commanding lead before Van de Beek’s introduction as a substitute after 72 minutes.
Unusually, the former Ajax man was able to make a more positive contribution to the match, gaining a credible score of 7.0 from Sofascore after only 18 minutes of action.
The midfielder was well involved in proceedings as he touched the ball 19 times and had a passing accuracy of 76%, completing 13 out of his 17 passes.
One big critique of Van de Beek’s career since joining Manchester United, and his loan spells at Everton and Frankfurt, has been his inability to influence a match.
Of course this is easier when your side is two goals to the good and coming off the bench with fresh legs against a tired defence, but he still was able to make his mark on the game.
The Netherlands international had two key passes and created one big chance for his side.
He also contributed defensively, winning 100% of his ground and aerial duels.
To have any chance of winning back his place in the starting lineup before the end of the season, the midfielder must continue to contribute like this when given the opportunity.
The United loanee will be aiming for a longer spell on the pitch to prove he can still make an impact at the highest level, when his Frankfurt side travel to Jadon Sancho’s Borussia Dortmund next Sunday.
