The series is broken: Eintracht Frankfurt suffered a setback in the fight for a direct place in the round of 16 due to their first defeat in the Europa League. The SGE lost 2:3 (1:1) at Olympique Lyon late on Thursday evening. With 13 points from six games, Frankfurt remains in the top eight in the table for the time being, and will ultimately be spared the detour via the play-offs. Rayan Cherki (27th), Malick Fofana (50th) and Ernest Nuamah (54th) gave Lyon their fourth win in the current competition. Ansgar Knauff (19th) initially took a flattering lead for Eintracht. Omar Marmoush (85th) shortened the score shortly before the final whistle, after Eintracht coach Dino Toppmöller saw the red card. In the two remaining games of the Europa League preliminary round, Frankfurt will face Ferencvaros Budapest and AS Roma.
“It is one of the biggest challenges in the competition so far,” said Toppmöller before the duel with the fifth-place team in Ligue 1. An assessment that quickly proved to be true: After seven minutes, Lyon was very close to taking the lead, Corentin Tolisso only hit the left outside post after a mistake in Eintracht’s defense. Frankfurt’s lead was quite unexpected: Hugo Ekitike played the ball with the outside of his foot into the center of the penalty area, where Knauff was in exactly the right place. However, Lyon appeared unimpressed by the deficit and deservedly rewarded themselves: Tolisso shot from a good 20 meters, Cherki decisively kept his foot in the ball’s path.
Eintracht had their problems with the French’s dynamic attacking game and were lucky again when Nuamah only hit the outside post from the turn (36th). Lyon was able to turn the game around after the break: On a counterattack, Cherki fed the incoming Fofana, who only had to push in. Spurred on by the lead, the hosts now really turned up the heat. Nuamah dribbled into the penalty area from the right side and shot with his left to make it 3-1. Frankfurt tried, among other things, to combat their first defeat of the season in the European Cup by substituting striker Marmoush, and the joker stood out. After a nice pass from Can Uzun, Frankfurt’s best player in weeks made the connection, but it wasn’t enough in a heated final phase.
Hoffenheim’s power play doesn’t yield a goal
Meanwhile, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim is standing still in the Europa League – and has to worry about progressing. In the home game against FCSB Bucharest on Thursday evening there was only a 0-0 draw. This means that TSG has six points after six out of eight games played – and is in danger of missing out on a place in the play-off phase. Despite field superiority and some good chances to score, the Kraichgauers were unable to score a goal. In order to secure a place among the best 24 teams in the league phase and thus in the play-offs, Hoffenheim absolutely needs points in the two remaining games. The opponents are Tottenham Hotspur and RSC Anderlecht.
Coach Christian Ilzer demanded “joy, liveliness and good energy” from his team before the game. She initially took the coach at his word – after just two minutes, Jacob Bruun Larsen, who had started deep, was served but missed. In front of 23,223 spectators, TSG, who dominated the game, then struggled to find a gap against closely packed Romanians. TSG was close to taking the lead in stoppage time in the first half, but Bruun Larsen headed past the goal (45th+1). The home team continued to dominate the game after the break, Bucharest continued to do no more than necessary. The quality of the chances for TSG increased, Anton Stach hit the ball over the goal from eleven meters (66th) – but the Hoffenheim team, who were now on a power play, were unable to score.
#Toppmöller #sees #red