Defeat in Tottenham: Ten Frankfurters miss last-minute draws

Eintracht Frankfurt lose at Tottenham Hotspur and fall behind in Champions League Group D.

Eintracht Frankfurt narrowly lost the fourth group game in the Champions League on Wednesday. The Hessians lost 2: 3 (1: 3) at Tottenham Hotspur and slipped down to last place in Group D.

Daichi Kamada had given coach Oliver Glasner’s team the lead (14′), Heung-min Son with a brace (20’/36′) and Harry Kane (28′) turned the game around before the break. The victory of the Premier League third, who played almost half an hour after being sent off against Tuta (60th), came after Faride Alidou’s goal (88th) and a penalty missed by Kane (90th + 2). faltering again. In the end, Eintracht’s rebellion came too late.

Götze initially on the bench

Eintracht coach Oliver Glasner had that 0: 3 debacle in Bochum reacted and turned back to a five-man chain with defender Makoto Hasebe on the defensive. In the absence of the injured Ansgar Knauff and Luca Pellegrini, Christopher Lenz and Kristijan Jakic took over the wing positions, world champion Mario Götze initially had to sit on the bench.

On the pitch, Eintracht’s game initially looked very decent. The Hessians disrupted the hosts deep in the opposition half and forced some early turnovers. Tottenham clearly had problems with the high pressure and invited Eintracht to two chances themselves. At the first, Kamada came a step too late (3rd), the second was used by the Japanese for a well-deserved lead. Jesper Lindström had previously fought for the ball in the Spurs penalty area.

Eintracht loses the thread

Eintracht was good in the game and showed their Champions League face again. But then Tottenham turned up the heat and the Hessians increasingly lost their order. Only six minutes after the lead, Kane dropped back a bit from the attacking front and pulled Makoto Hasebe out of the back three. Son used the resulting gap and Kristijan Jakic’s hesitant pursuit to equalize. The ex-Hamburger pulled free-standing from almost 16 meters and gave Eintracht keeper Kevin Trapp no ​​chance.

Coach Glasner’s team wobbled and received two more low blows in the first half. First Kane converted a penalty caused to him, which referee Carlos del Cerro Grande only gave after intervention by the VAR. But was Jakic’s check really the cause of Kane’s case and was the referee’s first decision really a blatant wrong decision? Rather doubtful. Then Son made it 3-1 at the break with a full volley.

Tuta is sent off

The balance of power did not change even after the break. Eintracht struggled, but in the end Tottenham was simply superior to the Hessians physically and in terms of football. Almost all of the decisive duels went to the home side, the Frankfurt defensive, which was highly praised in the first leg, reached its limits in north London.

After a blunder by Evan N’Dicka, who let Richarlison boil him off, Ryan Sessegnon missed the final decision (52′), but by the 60th minute at the latest and Tuta was sent off, the air was out. The Brazilian was rightly sent off with yellow-red after repeated foul play and thus probably saved himself further lost man-to-man duels.

Alidou makes it exciting

After a quadruple change (70th), in which the injured Makoto Hasebe had to be sent off, Eintracht initially limited themselves to damage limitation in the final phase and prevented further goals from being conceded. Since Alidou scored after a corner kick to make it 2:3 and Kane missed a penalty in injury time, things suddenly got exciting again. The Spurs, who were so confident before, actually showed human traits and let Eintracht come into play again. Despite wild running, the lucky punch was outnumbered.

One thing is clear: Eintracht can build on attitude and mentality, but in the end the performance did not come close to the appearance in the first leg and was too little at this level for long stretches. After all, everything is still possible in the tight group, Eintracht is only two points behind the upcoming opponents Marseille and Lisbon. But it is also clear: Eintracht will have to stretch.