Knapped defeat against Tottenham
© Imago
Eintracht Frankfurt has to bury the dream of another Europa League fairy tale prematurely. Without the early injured Mario Götze, the Hesse left the international business at the end of a week to forget for the German clubs as the last Bundesliga club.
The Frankfurters lost the quarter-final second leg 0: 1 (0: 1) against Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday evening. In the first leg, Eintracht had reached a 1-1 in London. A German triumph on May 21 at the final in Bilbao will be missing, Tottenham will compete in the semi -finals in early May.
Dominic Solanke (43rd minute/penalty) scored the gate for the Spurs. Previously, Frankfurt’s goalkeeper Kauã Santos had changed opponents James Maddison in a violent collision in the constant rain of Frankfurt.
In front of 57,500 spectators, the Frankfurters missed their shiny European face-the leaving was absolutely logical after the 180 minutes. After the end of Borussia Dortmund and the bitter KO of FC Bayern, the European season for the German clubs is over. The English Premier League, on the other hand, has several titles in the hot season phase.
The whole city on the Main had been looking forward to a big football evening and eagerly hoped for a repetition of the coup against FC Barcelona-three years ago, the Hesse also made its way into the round of the best four on Maundy Thursday.
After the draw in the first duel, both teams first tried for stability. Eintracht in particular stood deep and tried to get over the wings with fast balls. There was nothing to be seen of an aggressive eleven in a splendid mood.
There was a sporty damper after a good 15 minutes when Götze had to get off the field with thigh problems. The well-placed creative player had made it possible for the Tottenham duel with a double pack against Ajax Amsterdam in the round of 16. Götze’s ideas were painfully missed after his replacement. The 32-year-old sat on the bench and chewed chewing gum.
Striker Hugo Ekitiké (16th) and the Farès Chaïbi (25th), which was substituted for Götze, then had the first chances for the hosts, but that didn’t really seem. The ex-Wolfsburger Micky van de Ven was skilfully slipping in Ekitikés chance and preventing worse. On the other hand, Trapp representative Santos defused a massive shot from Bavaria’s loan Mathys Tel.
After almost 40 minutes, the key scene of the first half followed: a long pass flew into the top towards Maddison, which was first on the ball and was cleared by goalkeeper Santos.
While both professionals were treated on the lawn, Referee Davide Massa looked at the scene again in the video picture and decided on a penalty. Solanke brave bravely in the middle, his penalty brought the lead. It didn’t go any further for the dazed Maddison.
With increasing playing time, Eintracht became more active, but the actions did not really seem determined. The most thing was that there was something else in resting balls: a free kick from Chaïbi from a great distance just passed the goal.
Tottenham played ripped off and without big mistakes, but missed the early decision with a second goal, which the Frankfurters almost used in the final phase: Rasmus Kristensen missed two huge opportunities.