VfB Stuttgart won the top game against Frankfurt at the end of the first half of the Bundesliga. Eintracht goalkeeper Kaua Santos put the Swabians on the road to victory.
In the 3-2 win in front of 59,000 fans in the Stuttgart Arena, Rasmus Kristensen (5th) initially gave the guests the lead, Ermedin Demirovic (27th) and Deniz Undav (35th) turned the game around before the break. In the second half, Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab (80th) equalized for Eintracht, and Nikolas Terkelsen Nartey (87th) scored Stuttgart’s winning goal.
Already 36 goals conceded for Eintracht
Stuttgart ended the first half of the season in third place with 32 points, their second win of the new year after the 4-1 win in Leverkusen.
Eintracht is currently seventh with 26 points. The flood of goals conceded continued. Frankfurt has already conceded 36 goals, only Heidenheim (38) is in a worse position. The Hessians recently played 3-3 at Borussia Dortmund.
Tailor-made start for Frankfurt
In the top duel for a place in the European Cup, the guests got off to a perfect start. After a corner from Ritsu Doan, Kristensen rose at the near post and headed the ball into the far corner. Goalkeeper Alexander Nübel could only watch. It wasn’t even five minutes into the game.
Frankfurt’s Rasmus Kristensen celebrates his goal to make it 1-0.
Stuttgart came into the game sluggishly. In the 11th minute, Frankfurt’s Arthur Theate had to clear a corner from Angelo Stiller on the line. But that was about it in terms of opportunities. But the guests suffered an early setback. Striker Younes Ebnoutalib had to leave the field after a tough duel with Jeff Chabot (20th). Jean Bahoya came for him.
But it was still the Stuttgart team who struggled. In the final third they simply played too imprecisely, and the Swabians’ game was too left-leaning thanks to Chris Führich. “It was restless, and the goal certainly contributed to that. Then we were erratic and made too many simple mistakes. We then changed things a bit and had more control, the structure became better“VfB coach Sebastian Hoeneß analyzed after the game.
Kaua Santos makes a mistake
VfB equalized out of the blue and with the kind help of Eintracht goalkeeper Kaua Santos. He let a harmless cross from Maximilian Mittelstädt fall at the feet of Demirovic and, in his starting eleven comeback after a long injury, he pushed it into the empty goal to make it 1-1. Kaua Santos was probably also hindered by his own teammate, in this case Aurele Amenda.
Stuttgart then turned up the heat, the Schwaben-Express rolled and it didn’t take long to take the lead. Jamie Leweling played a pass into the penalty area to Undav, who beat his opponent Oscar Hojlung and finished dry. With the 1:2, the Frankfurters were well served before the break, because VfB remained dangerous and Kaua Santos was very unsettled at times.
Knauff only hits the crossbar
After the break, VfB continued undeterred. Undav had the first good chance, but his shot in the penalty area was blocked. A little later, a shot from Führich at the far corner went just centimeters past the goal.
But then the Stuttgart team were lucky. Ansgar Knauff hit the crossbar with a powerful volley from 16 meters. That gave Eintracht a boost and they also had their chances. In any case, in the now wild game you had the feeling that a goal could be scored anywhere at any time.
Stuttgart’s Jamie Leweling in a duel with Frankfurt’s Oscar Hojlund and Arthur Theate
In the 65th minute, Undav could have made the preliminary decision, but the striker was denied by Kaua Santos, who this time made a great save in front of the goal.
Amaimouni-Echghouyab equalizes, Terkelsen Nartey counters
The goal fell on the other side. Two minutes after coming on as a substitute, Amaimouni-Echghouyab scored on his debut after a fine pass from Mo Dahoud for Eintracht with a low shot to make it 2-2. The striker came from Hoffenheim II in the winter. However, the Hessians were only able to rejoice for a short time in a wild final phase, as Terkelsen Nartey hit back for Stuttgart after preparatory work from Undav and Josha Vagnoman.
Eintracht coach Dino Toppmöller found the defeat “very annoying. Even after VfB’s opening goal, we showed a top reaction and then had two great chances. It’s just annoying that we only got one point for the effort we put in against BVB and Stuttgart.“
As expected, Sebastian Hoeneß was positive about the first half of the season: “It’s not a given. You have to keep that in mind again and again. It’s a snapshot and the 32 points won’t be enough for anything in the end, but the direction is right.”
Stuttgart at Union, Frankfurt against Bremen
Stuttgart welcomes Union Berlin at the start of the second half of the season on Sunday afternoon (3:30 p.m.). Frankfurt will be guests at Werder Bremen on Friday evening (8:30 p.m.).