45′
7:31 p.m
Official injury time (minutes): 2
43′
7:30 p.m
It’s getting rougher, the duels are getting tougher and the whole game is becoming more disjointed. Frankfurt now wants to take a break to regroup.
41′
19:28
The third goal for the guests almost comes out of nowhere! A cross from the right half of the field from Chaïbi on the right into the box slips through Burgess, so the ball somehow gets to Marmoush. The Egyptian immediately heads at the goal from six meters from the right corner of the five-yard box, but his aim is not precise enough and only hits Lindner, who reacts well.
39′
19:26
Meanwhile, Eintracht barely manages to get dangerously in front of the opponent’s goal. Union Saint-Gilloise has taken control of the game, although there are currently no further chances.
37′
19:24
The guests are lucky that Nkounkou doesn’t foul Amoura in midfield. On the one hand, that would have been a good counterattack opportunity, and on the other hand, the Frenchman would definitely have seen a yellow card otherwise.
35′
7:20 p.m
Yellow card for Charles Vanhoutte (Union Saint-Gilloise)
Götze asserts himself in the midfield with great ball handling, but is passed over by Vanhoutte. The midfielder sees a yellow card for this.
33′
7:19 p.m
The stadium is now back and the Belgians are immediately more intense in their duels. Now Frankfurt has to show resilience so that the leadership lasts.
31′
19:17
Tooor for Union Saint-Gilloise, 1:2 by Mathias Rasmussen
If that’s bitter, Eintracht will bring Saint-Gilloise back into this game. Skhiri, the last man on the left of his own box, misses the ball against Amoura, who immediately places it in the middle. Five meters in front of the goal and alone in front of Trapp, Rasmussen easily slides in and of course he has no problems scoring a goal. The Tunisian will be extremely annoyed because of this gross mistake.
29′
7:15 p.m
Machida, somewhat surprisingly, looks for a finish from the left corner of the penalty area. The half-high attempt is no problem for Trapp, who grabs it easily.
28′
19:14
After a short break in treatment, Kalajdžić can continue. It’s a more even game now, but Eintracht are still there and are extremely dangerous up front.
26′
19:12
Yellow card for Christian Burgess (Union Saint-Gilloise)
In midfield, Burgess jumps in the back of Kalajdžić. The captain of the hosts is warned for this.
25′
19:12
And unity again. Following a corner, Nkounkou plays a great pass to Chaïbi on the right. His low cross lands somewhat happily at Kalajdžić, who, however, falls too far on his back from 13 meters and shoots clearly over it. You actually have to bring it to the goal.
24′
19:11
Now it’s exciting again on the other side. Buta makes a long switch to Chaïbi, who in turn immediately looks for the finish from a 17-meter half-right position. Lindner is able to direct the strong but central attempt over the crossbar.
23′
7:10 p.m
Now Lapoussin comes through with a dribble on the left of the box, but then Eintracht can’t really clear the ball. Nilsson heads the cross from the right from Castro-Montes into the left corner from seven meters, but the ball goes wide. That was a first somewhat better opportunity for the hosts.
21′
7:08 p.m
Castro-Montes wins a ball on the left side of midfield, then the Belgians have to move quickly. However, when he arrived at the penalty area, Lapoussin missed the ball.
19′
7:05 p.m
That was a situation that could have been dangerous for Eintracht. During the build-up, Tuta plays a bad pass and Amoura moves to the box from the left. However, his finish can be blocked. This should be a warning to guests not to sit back here.
17′
7:04 p.m
Amoura keeps dribbling for the hosts, but so far he hasn’t been able to get through. Götze, Skhiri and Marmoush playfully solve a pressure situation at the back and ultimately the Egyptian is awarded a foul.
14′
7:00 p.m
Les Unionistes are now retreating a little further and are no longer attacking as high. They probably no longer want to offer Frankfurt such large spaces to counterattack. In the meantime, Eintracht worked for a corner on the right, but it fizzled out.
12′
18:58
Eintracht is wide awake and very intense in the duels, so the Belgians don’t come into the game at all. In addition, the Eagles probably don’t have any nerves in front of the opponent’s goal. The hosts are now challenged.
10′
6:55 p.m
Tooor for Eintracht Frankfurt, 0:2 by Saša Kalajdžić
What’s going on here? A corner of their own flies past the hosts’ ears, Lapoussin hits a hole in the air and Marmoush crosses the halfway line, then sends Chaïbi brilliantly into the box on the right. Instead of pulling away, he passes again with a lot of overview to the left to Kalajdžić, who is completely alone. The Austrian loads Lindner and easily slides in from eleven meters to the bottom right, it’s ice cold.
7′
18:53
Kalajdžić gets some space in the center and marches through the midfield. His subsequent low shot from 25 meters is no problem for Lindner.
6′
18:51
This is a fantastic start for the guests, who took the lead straight away with their first real attack. How can Saint-Gilloise respond to this?
4′
6:49 p.m
Yellow card for Tuta (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Near the touchline, Tuta is clearly too late against Amoura and clears him. For this he sees the early first yellow card.
3′
6:48 p.m
Tooor for Eintracht Frankfurt, 0-1 by Farès Chaïbi
Eintracht gets off to a lightning start. From the left, Nkounkou moves somewhat happily into the box and to the baseline. His return ends up with Kalajdžić, whose shot is blocked by Burgess. However, the leather comes to Chaïbi, who only has to push in from a few meters. Lindner has no chance.
1′
6:46 p.m
Then the ball starts rolling. Frankfurt kicked off.
18:42
At this moment the teams enter the pitch together with referee Craig Pawson from England. The game can begin in a few minutes.
18:41
Incidentally, Frankfurt fans have been banned from entering the Anderlecht district where the game is taking place since Wednesday. The Belgian authorities had announced a very restrictive approach, which once again shows that it is not easy for away fans in Europe. Eintracht has reserved the right to take legal action retrospectively, as was the case in a similar case during the guest appearance in Marseille in 2018. Fans are only allowed to get to the stadium from a meeting point in the city along with shuttles, otherwise they risk being arrested by the police.
18:27
This is the first time these two teams have ever met, so we don’t have any comparable figures. However, the Belgians have already played against German teams in the past, and there were six duels in the Europa League last season. In the group phase, the duel with Union Berlin was evenly matched (1:0, 0:1), but in the round of 16, Les Unionistes clearly prevailed against the same opponent (3:3, 3:0). However, against Bayer Leverkusen in the quarter-finals, their trip to Europe was over (1:1, 1:4).
6:14 p.m
The guests moved into these play-offs as second from a group with PAOK, Aberdeen and Helsinki. In the new year, however, Eintracht is a bit lost, after the surprising win against Leipzig, they only managed a three-pointer against Bochum, Cologne, Mainz and Darmstadt, all teams from the bottom third of the table. Frankfurt is in sixth place in the Bundesliga and should qualify for the Conference League again at least before the season. Maybe we can get back to our old form internationally; these competitions suit the Eagles, as we know from the past.
6:03 p.m
A favorite cannot necessarily be identified in this duel, as will be seen. Saint Gilloise is eight points ahead of first place in the domestic Jupiler Pro League, where they have only lost twice after 25 games, so Eintracht should be warned. The Belgians moved down one competition from the Europa League, finishing third ahead of the Austrians in a group with Liverpool, Toulouse and Linz. At home they beat the English.
5:46 p.m
To start, let’s take a look at the lineups. At Saint Gilloise, German coach Alexander Blessin is making three changes compared to the last competitive game. Former Frankfurter Lindner, Castro-Montes and Burgess come into the starting line-up for Moris in goal, Sykes and Terho. Sardiki is missing due to a yellow card suspension, Leysen and Rodríguez are not there due to injuries. Eckert Ayensa is a German striker on the bench. On the other hand, Eintracht coach Dino Toppmöller is also rotating, but in four positions. Grahl, Max, Knauff and Larsson will be replaced by the recovered Trapp, Tuta, Nkounkou and Kalajdžić. Larsson is missing from the Bochum game due to his injury. Due to the personnel castling, it is once again a five-man chain, after four players played at the back at the weekend. Bahoya and van de Beek are not eligible to play in this competition and are therefore missing from the squad.
Welcome to the play-off first leg of the Europa Conference League, where Union Saint-Gilloise and Eintracht Frankfurt face each other. Kick-off at Lotto Park in Brussels is at 6:45 p.m.!