Seville (AP) – After the strong performance at Betis Seville, the professionals from Eintracht Frankfurt celebrated the next European party.
Long after the final whistle, the 2-1 (2-1) victory in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Europa League in fifth place in the Spanish La Liga was celebrated with the fans who had traveled with them. Thanks to the success in front of 36,574 spectators, the Bundesliga club remains unbeaten in the current competition and is on course for the quarter-finals in the Europa League.
Glazier happy
“I’m very, very happy. It was a fantastic performance and a top performance,” praised Eintracht coach Oliver Glasner. At the same time he warned: “It looks very good, but it’s only half-time.”
Filip Kostic in the 14th minute and Daichi Kamada (32nd) scored the goals for the Hessians. France’s world champion Nabil Fekir (30th) only managed to equalize for Sevilla. “We’re proud. The self-confidence we showed here was phenomenal,” said Eintracht goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.
The win could have been even bigger. Rafael Borré failed in the 52nd minute with a weak hand penalty shot by Sevilla goalkeeper Claudio Bravo. “It could have been more. We have to score three or four goals,” said midfielder Djibril Sow. “But we won’t let that take us away in the second leg.”
As in the most recent 4-1 win in the Bundesliga at Hertha BSC, Glasner attacked and sent the same attacking starting lineup onto the pitch of the Estadio Benito Villamarín. “We decided to do it because the team did very well in Berlin. That’s why we said we’d let the boys off the leash again,” he explained the offensive system.
Brave and offensive Frankfurter
This courage was rewarded. Frankfurt initially kept Betis away from their own goal and took an early lead thanks to a stroke of genius from Kostic. The left-wing Serbian international outwitted Sevilla goalkeeper Claudio Bravo with a curl into the far post.
The hit left an effect on the opponent. Coach Manuel Pellegrini’s team could hardly embarrass Eintracht once. But after half an hour, the Hessian defense was not in the picture for a moment. Fekir used the freedom he was given and overcame Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, who had been unemployed until then, with a well-placed low shot.
However, the response from the Hessians was only 120 seconds in coming. After a mistake by the Betis defence, Jesper Lindström fed Kamada free in the middle, who finished easily. It was the Japanese’s fourth goal in the current competition.
Borré fails with a penalty
And it could have been even better. Shortly after the restart, Italian referee Marco Guida awarded a penalty for Frankfurt after Aitor Ruibal jumped the ball inside his own penalty area. But Borré was unable to take advantage of the great opportunity. The Colombian’s weak shot was denied by Bravo. A little later, Kostic moved from a favorable position.
Eintracht now determined the game and developed further opportunities to expand the result. But Borré was twice unable to overcome the 38-year-old Bravo in the Betis goal from the game, and Kostic also failed at the keeper shortly before the end. The home side made an effort, but acted too awkwardly in attack. At the end, the guests cheered.