Eintracht Frankfurt can almost plan for the round of 16 despite the departure of Omar Marmoush in the Europa League.
The Hessians deservedly won their home game against Ferencvaros Budapest 2-0 (0-0) and can probably skip the playoffs. With 16 points, a place in the top eight is almost certain; just one more point at the end of the league phase on Thursday (9:00 p.m.) at AS Roma led by Mats Hummels would provide final clarity.
“We were very dominant and played well,” said Mario Götze RTL: “We had a lot of good phases and didn’t allow much. Maybe we can exploit one or two situations more effectively. Otherwise it was quite good.”
Even a defeat could be enough for a direct entry into the round of 16; participation in the play-offs could no longer be taken away from the Bundesliga third-place team before the penultimate matchday. Top talent Can Uzun scored a dream goal (49th) and Hugo Ekitiké (59th) scored a convincing fourth win in the fourth game of the year.
On Thursday morning, the transfer of top striker Omar Marmoush to Manchester City, which had been pending for days, was finally completed.
Elye Wahi from Olympique Marseille is currently being hotly discussed as a successor candidate; according to consistent media reports, there should be an agreement between the clubs. But in the evening the SGE had to make do without a new attacker, and coach Dino Toppmöller was sitting in the stands with a red card.
Uzun hits the corner beautifully
Under the direction of representative Jan Fießer, the 2022 Europa League champion took control of the game straight away. Ekitiké (8th) fired an early warning shot from a tight angle, but keeper Dénes Dibusz, who was later substituted injured, was on hand, as was the Frenchman’s next attempt from a central position eleven minutes later. A game of patience developed against the Hungarian champions, who were low and only waiting for a counterattack.
Rasmus Kristensen (36th) hit the side netting, but otherwise there was a bit of a lack of ideas. Shortly after the break, Ekitiké was denied by substitute Adam Varga (48′), seconds later Uzun shot beautifully into the top corner after winning the ball from 22 meters. With that the spell was broken. Eintracht now developed dangerous situations against coach Robbie Keane’s team almost every minute – and continued to do so.