MEintracht has held back on officially announcing goals this season. Once again a change has to be brought about, half the team was new in the summer, plus a coach in Dino Toppmöller who has hardly any head coaching experience.
There was early talk of a “development year” in which the focus should not only be on the results. There was only one competition where the Frankfurt team didn’t want to have any self-imposed restraint: the European Cup. In the Conference League, sports director Markus Krösche announced after the draw for the games, there is the right to be involved even after the winter break, when the knockout phase promises to be even more attractive.
The club came a little closer to this goal on Thursday: Toppmöller’s team beat HJK Helsinki 6-0 in their own stadium. Eintracht improved their score to six points after three matchdays and maintained their chance of progressing as first in the group phase without play-offs. They are currently in second place after PAOK Saloniki (9 points) won 3-2 in Aberdeen in the parallel encounter.
Starting eleven changed
The Frankfurters had themselves to blame for starting under pressure. The last-minute defeat at the start of the month at the Greeks (1-2) left them under pressure to avoid any further slip-ups. That evening there was no sign that this situation would burden her. Against an opponent who had little to say against their enthusiasm, Eintracht put on a performance in which many of Toppmöller’s men delighted the audience to their heart’s content.
In front of 55,500 spectators, the 42-year-old made use of the opportunity to make extensive changes to the starting eleven: Hrvoje Smolcic, Dina Ebimbe, Niels Nkounkou and Mario Götze replaced Willian Pacho and Aurelio Buta compared to the Bundesliga away win in Hoffenheim (3-1). , Philipp Max and Hugo Larsson there. The Scandinavians only created a little danger at first.
A carelessly defended ball from captain Robin Koch landed in the feet of Perparim Hetemaj, who forced Jens Grahl to intervene (5th minute). But then Eintracht took command – and immediately took the lead.
The video assistant intervened to point out a handball by Jukka Raitala that he had not registered to the Ukrainian referee Viktor Kopiievskyi. After studying the TV images, the referee decided on a penalty, which Ebimbe used to make it 1-0 (12th).
The goal strengthened the Frankfurt team’s self-confidence. They tackled the duels with determination. In midfield, Ellyes Skhiri once again filled the role of leader. He closed gaps and, with his passing precision, gave the players next to him time and space to evade the guard.
storm and stress
Ebimbe narrowly missed the goal in the 22nd minute on an assist from Omar Marmoush, which went down as a serious omission in the balance sheet, because just five minutes later Koch flicked the ball over the line after a corner kick from Fares Chaibi to make it 2-0 ( 27.).
And Eintracht did not let up in their Sturm und Drang, but instead used the space that Helsinki’s defense allowed – and quickly followed up. Marmoush was blocked in a central position with his first two attempts, but with the third and with his outside instep he made it 3-0 (30th).
It was clear how things would go here and now, although HJK had no say when they tried to slow down the Frankfurters with some hard attacks. Tuta made it 4-0 with a header before the break (45th minute), again after a Chaibi corner.
In the second section, nothing changed in the balance of power. Skhiri made it 5-0 (55th), while Ebimbe made it half a dozen with his second strike (89th). With a view to the next tasks, which are likely to be more difficult, Toppmöller made early use of his substitution options: Marmoush, Chaibi, Tuta, Skhiri and Ansgar Knauff were allowed to shower earlier, but Paxten Aaronson, Makoto Hasebe, Jessic Ngankam, Kristijan Jakic and Timothy Chandler moved up .
They fit in seamlessly and were on the pitch at the end when the performance was celebrated with the fans. For Eintracht, who got off to a rocky start in this round, it was their third competitive win in a row. Or in other words: Borussia Dortmund can come to the Bundesliga and DAZN this Sunday (3:30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker).
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