Eintracht Frankfurt shows maturity and class against their direct competitor Freiburg. The Hessians are heading in the right direction again, the wild birds seem to have been banished for good. But everything is not perfect yet.
In the 85th minute it was time for a classic. Eintracht Frankfurt had a relatively relaxed 2-0 lead in the home game against SC Freiburg on Sunday evening. This important game between the two neighbors in the table was decided early, so the northwest curve started with the feeling of certain victory: “The SGE is back.” A small sentence, a short song, but a lot of truth: Eintracht Frankfurt, the shaky structure of a football team so far this season, has returned to the Bundesliga. The Hessians are actually back.
Because this 2-0 against the sports club from Freiburg wasn’t just the second home win without conceding a goal in a row. Before the game in the city forest, it was clear to everyone around Eintracht Frankfurt: If anything is to come of this damned Bundesliga season, this game has to be won. End of discussion.
The wild birds in Eintracht game is gone
And knowing exactly this, the home team showed a rip-off, mature, playfully appealing performance and were extremely stable in defense. Although they didn’t create a huge number of chances on offense, they did create enough chances to deserve to win in the end. There was something mature in this sobriety, in this rip-off. Something that seemed impossible just a month ago. The first few weeks under new coach Albert Riera did something to Eintracht, and that cannot be overlooked.
Albert Riera and Adler Attila are happy about the Eintracht victory.
“We come from times when things were wild, it’s about balance and that’s where we’re taking our steps,” Manager Markus Krösche described it after the win against Freiburg. In four games with the Spaniard on the sidelines, the Frankfurt team have only conceded four goals, three of them with goals the away defeat in Munich. Riera’s changes are working. The unity has become a solid structure. The wild birds are actually gone.
“The coach gives us clear solutions”
The days when even a 2-0 lead – like against Freiburg – don’t bring peace seem to be over. In which the big tremors begin and the hectic pace sets in. Things never got hectic against the sports club, which was relatively unimaginative offensively; Eintracht had the game under control after they took the lead at the latest. “We now know how we want to defend,” reported Captain Robin Koch. “The coach gives us clear solutions. We have a different self-image again.”
Of course, it’s not the case that there haven’t been solid home wins to nil over the course of the season so far. keyword augsburgkeyword Mainz. The difference against Freiburg, however, was that the sports club was of a different caliber. And on the other hand, the Hessians created significantly more chances this time. Arnaud Kalimuendo alone could have calmed Eintracht’s spirits early on several times (29th, 73rd, 88th). The two Frankfurt goals didn’t come out of the blue.
Now it’s against the basement children
The two beautifully scored goals from Farès Chaibi, who had been substituted seconds earlier (64th) and from the formidable Jean-Mattéo Bahoya (81st), were ultimately enough for the Hessians to win. By the way, Freiburg were overtaken again in the table. The turnaround is complete. So everything is fine at Eintracht?
Not quite. Because on the one hand, the early ones clouded things over Substitution of keeper Kaua Santos and his possibly more serious injury is noticeably raising spirits, but on the other hand, coach Riera also knows that this one win is worth relatively little if they don’t improve on all the teams from the bottom third of the table in the coming weeks (St. Pauli, Heidenheim, Mainz, Cologne, Wolfsburg).
Riera is not completely happy
If the big comeback in the table is to be successful, this win against Freiburg can only have been the beginning. “Even though we won 2-0, I’m not completely happy,” explained Riera. “We won a game, did a lot of things well, but now we have to keep working.” Just keep taking small steps. So that the sentence “The SGE is back” does not have a half-life that is far too short.
