Even after the final whistle, rockets flew out of the fan blocks. While the players of Eintracht Frankfurt were happy about the first Champions League success in the club’s history, the mistakes continued in the stands.
Despite the 1-0 (1-0) success at Olympique Marseille, Eintracht lost sympathy with an ugly performance by its fans. Now the SGE has to fear a ghost game in the Champions League.
The joy of Jesper Lindström’s winning goal (43rd minute) and the first three points that saw the Hessians catch up to next opponent Tottenham Hotspur in second place in Group D was considerably marred by the gaffes of the fans who had traveled with them. After Eintracht had been sentenced to a suspended spectator suspension by UEFA for storming the pitch in the Europa League semi-final against West Ham United, the home game against Tottenham on October 4 threatens to be played in front of empty stands.
Nonetheless, joy prevailed. “The first Champions League victory in the club’s history is unbelievable. It’s a great success,” said sporting director Markus Krösche. Midfielder Daichi Kamada was also happy. “Today we stuck together and played the Frankfurt style,” said the Japanese on “DAZN”. “It was very important for us to win.”
Eintracht focused from the start
The team stayed cool in the hot atmosphere. What did the team have to listen to after the 0-1 draw against Wolfsburg from coach Oliver Glasner – and the Austrian’s appeal had an effect. Unlike last time, the Frankfurters presented themselves highly concentrated from the start. Marseille quickly became a threat, but Alexis Sanchez (12th/23rd) missed the target twice. Frankfurt had to wait until the 25th minute for the first chance, but Randal Kolo Muani’s low shot was no problem for the goalkeeper.
In the beginning there was no game with big opportunities. Which was also due to the fact that Eintracht acted very safely on the defensive. It only got really explosive from the start in the stands. Flares had been fired from both fan blocks and pyrotechnics ignited even before kick-off. Pictures on the Internet, which are supposed to show a Eintracht fan before the game with the Hitler salute, also caused a stir. During the game only a few firecrackers banged in the stadium. Shortly before the final whistle, rockets flew out of the blocks again.
Lindstrom takes the lead from close range
The heated atmosphere did not impress Eintracht at all. But on the contrary. The concentrated performance was rewarded before the break. After an unfortunate defensive action by OM professional Rongier, Lindström was suddenly free in front of keeper Pau Lopez and ensured the lead from close range with a low shot. The Dane almost added a few minutes after the break, but Lopez just managed to deflect his shot from a tight angle (54′) onto the crossbar.
The game changed now. The French stood much higher and became more open in defence. Eintracht always had promising opportunities through counterattacks or long balls forward. One of the best of them was again Kolo Muani (75th), who failed after a fine solo in front of the goal at Lopez. In addition, a goal by Daichi Kamada (79th) was disallowed for offside. So Frankfurt could only blame itself for one thing: the exploitation of opportunities.