Eintracht Frankfurt handed leaders Union Berlin their first defeat of the Bundesliga season and is moving up the table.
Eintracht Frankfurt beat Union Berlin 2-0 on matchday 8 of the Bundesliga on Saturday (10/01/2022) and handed the league leaders their first defeat after 14 league games across the season.
Mario Götze rewarded Eintracht for a strong start with an early goal (12th minute). Jesper Lindström added the second goal three minutes before half-time. Randal Kolo Muani, until then the most conspicuous man on Frankfurt’s offensive, had to leave the field in the 68th minute with yellow-red. However, Union could not turn the majority into something countable and deservedly suffered their first defeat of the season.
The successful series of the Köpenickers ended with Eintracht, which was so weak at home last time, and had only won two of thirteen home games in 2022. With the victory, Frankfurt (14 points) initially climbed to fifth place, only three points behind the top of the table. Despite the bankruptcy, Union remains at the top of the table, ahead of SC Freiburg, who have the same number of points.
Götze caught Union cold
With the extension with coach Urs Fischer, Union had set another positive sign on Wednesday. In the first game with a new contract, the Swiss made two changes, compared to the win against VfL Wolfsburg (2-0) Paul Jaeckel and Morten Thorsby moved into the team.
In front of 50,500 fans, however, the guests got off to the worst possible start. After a controlled start, the Berliners were caught cold, Götze completed Eintracht’s first attack right away after preliminary work by Kolo Muani, who had previously left all opponents standing.
Union pale – Lindström scores after a dream solo
Union struggled with the deficit, the dreaded switching game hardly came to light – Fischer could not be satisfied. Coach Oliver Glasner’s team continued to make a strong, self-confident impression, but missed the second goal through Luca Pellegrini (22′). Apart from a long-range shot (28th) by Janik Haberer, Fischer’s team was pale before the break and deservedly lagged behind.
Frankfurt, on the other hand, kept coming up with something offensive: Pellegrini (36′) first hit the crossbar before Lindström crowned a fantastic solo run with a two-goal lead. Union became more active in the second half, but Fischer’s eleven rarely got into dangerous situations due to the disciplined Frankfurt team. After one of the few good attacks, SGE goalkeeper Kevin Trapp saved against Haberer, Niko Gießelmann put the margin over it (55th).
Fischer reacted and brought on Sven Michel, Paul Seguin and Kevin Behrens for more offensive power in the closing stages. But even after Kolo Muani’s dismissal, the Berliners remained unimaginative in attack. Frankfurt, on the other hand, repeatedly provided relief with counterattacks.
The only bad news from Frankfurt’s point of view was goal scorer Götze’s injury, who had to leave the field after a little more than an hour. Coach Oliver Glasner gave the all-clear after the game: “He’s twisted a bit, but I expect it will be back by Tuesday.”
Frankfurt in the premier class against Tottenham, Union in the Europa League at Malmö
Then Eintracht have to prove themselves in the Champions League with a home game against Tottenham (9 p.m.). For Union, things will initially continue internationally, in the Europa League away at Malmö FF (Thursday, 6.45 p.m.).
In the league, Frankfurt is playing away to Bochum for the next points (Saturday, October 8th, 2022 at 3:30 p.m.). Union Berlin travels to Stuttgart a day later (7:30 p.m.).