The Europa League high-flyers from Eintracht Frankfurt are about to be crowned on their impressive dream trip.
In another magical night, coach Oliver Glasner’s team stormed into a final on the European stage for the first time in 42 years by beating West Ham United 1-0 (1-0) in the second leg of the semi-finals and will follow up on May 18 in Seville the silver pot.
“A dream is finally coming true. World class,” said Eintracht President Peter Fischer, surrounded by celebrating fans on “RTL”: “They played it differently. This city and this environment deserved it. That’s football. And now we’re going to win the thing .”
In the breathtakingly loud Frankfurt cauldron, the Hessians convinced as they did in the impressively sovereign 2-1 in the first leg in London. Rafael Borre (26th) scored for the SGE, who played in the majority for a long time after red against West Ham’s Aaron Creswell (17th, according to video evidence). The emotional football evening fueled Eintracht’s hopes of repeating the 1980 UEFA Cup triumph.
Unlike three years ago, Eintracht took the last step into the final thanks to a confident performance – at that time the dream of the title had burst dramatically in the semi-finals at Chelsea. The Frankfurters remain undefeated in their favorite competition this season.
The whole city had been in a frenzy for days, and the euphoria wasn’t just huge since the sensational triumph against Barcelona. In the run-up, however, there were also riots from both fan camps.
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin and national coach Hansi Flick cavorted in the stands. In addition, former Eintracht coaches such as Friedhelm Funkel, Armin Veh or Niko Kovac, even the disgraced Adi Hütter.
Despite the excellent starting position, Glasner sent his eleven into the game with the clear demand “that we play to win here from the first second”. Compared to the first leg, he relied on Evan Ndicka, who was suspended last, and Jens Petter Hauge started for the injured Jesper Lindström.
After an impressive choreo, the game in front of 48,000 fans mostly dressed in white started with a shock for Eintracht. Defense chief Martin Hinteregger was injured in a sprint duel and had to be replaced by Almamy Toure after just seven minutes.
Eintracht Frankfurt uses the majority
But after Creswell was sent off due to an emergency brake on Hauge, the Hessians immediately used their superiority. At the end of the first attack worth seeing, Borre pushed in freely from around ten meters. The leadership gave the Frankfurters, who initially seemed nervous, a sense of security. In the guests’ only offensive action, Evan Ndicka saved on the line (44′).
Even after the break, Eintracht controlled what was happening. West Ham didn’t give up when outnumbered, but the English attacks mostly fizzled out. A header from Craig Dawson (60th) was the best option for a long time. Frankfurt managed the lead and failed to add the second goal. In the final phase it got heated again, West Ham’s team manager David Moyes (78th) also saw red.