Furious second half
© Imago
Eintracht Frankfurt missed the dress rehearsal for the Europa League duel with Ajax and was unable to recapture third place in the Bundesliga. Four days before the round of 16 second leg against the Dutch record champions, the Hesse lost 1: 2 (1-0) to 1. FC Union Berlin despite a dominant first half.
In front of 58,000 spectators, Michy Bathshuayi (13th) put the home side in the lead, but Leopold Querfeld (62nd) and Woo-Yeong Jeong (78th) turned the game in favor of the Berliners that were turning after the change. In injury time, substitute Hugo Ekitiké gave the huge opportunity to equalize when he failed with a penalty to Union goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow. For Eintracht, the bankruptcy meant a setback in the fight for a Champions League ticket. Union, on the other hand, is now allowed to take a little breath with 26 points in the relegation battle.
After the exhausting 90 minutes of Amsterdam, Eintracht coach Dino Toppmöller gave some players a breather. Mario Götze, Ansgar Knauff and Ekitiké initially only sat on the bench. In addition to defense chief Robin Koch (infection), left -back Arthur Theate also failed at short notice due to muscular problems.
Despite the changes in the starting line -up, the Hesse were game -determining from the start and rewarded themselves with the early leadership for their efforts. After a deflected shot by Rasmus Kristensen, the ball landed right in front of the feet of Bathshuayi. The striker, who came from the Galatasaray during the winter break, kept his nerve in front of Rönnow and then let himself be celebrated for his premiere goal in the Eintracht jersey. As a result, the Frankfurter were the more active team and could have expanded the lead until the break. Fares Chaibi, who had only slipped into the starting eleven a few minutes before the kick -off for Theat, initially failed with a header to Rönnow and later moved out of a promising position.
From the Berliners who had to do without the sick Kevin Vogt and Kevin Volland at short notice, there was almost nothing to see on the offensive. The team of coach Steffen Baumgart lacked the necessary creativity and punch. Only with a shot by Andrej Ilic to the outside network threatened the home side in the first half a touch of danger. With the restart, Union played braver and came to a first thick chance. Rani Khedira fueled on the right to the baseline, but his passport in the middle was too imprecisely for the Ilic and Tim Skarke lurking there.
Eintracht coach Toppmöller reacted to the changed statics after an hour and brought two fresh offensive forces with Götze and Ekitiké. The guests were allowed to cheer a little later. After a corner, crossing hit with a header to equalize. Frankfurt’s goalkeeper Kevin Trapp was powerless in this scene. Just 60 seconds later, Hugo Larsson could have brought the Hesse in the lead again. The Sweden lupfer narrowly missed the goal. Rasmus Kristensen also lacked only centimeters to the second goal on a post shot. But the guests also remained dangerous and, after Jeong’s low shot, were able to celebrate three important points shortly before the end.
