Eintracht Frankfurt provided a redeeming sense of achievement at the start of coach Oliver Glasner’s farewell tour. In the first game after turbulent days with the announcement of the separation at the end of the season, the Hessians prevailed 3-0 (2-0) in the Rhein-Main duel with FSV Mainz 05 and ended their negative series of ten league games without a win.
Without Glasner, who was suspended in the stands, the cup finalists saved their chance for international business in the Bundesliga thanks to goals from Daichi Kamada (18′, penalty kick), Aurelio Buta (40′) and Randal Kolo Muani (59′). With the victory, Frankfurt also overtook the weak Mainz team – and put a damper on their European ambitions.
After a week full of unrest, it shouldn’t matter that they part ways at the end of the season. He was “in the tunnel,” said Glasner, and his focus was “now exclusively to get the exit to Europe.” Either with a success in the DFB Cup final against RB Leipzig, or despite the disappointing second half of the league.
Accordingly committed, the Hessians started in the neighborhood duel. Glasner, who saw red when TSG Hoffenheim (1: 3) went bankrupt and was now represented by his assistant coach Michael Angerschmid, saw a game-determining unity in the stands, but it was too cumbersome at the beginning.
The lead gave the Frankfurters a sense of security against weak guests, who had to do without the suspended Leandro Barreiro and Dominik Kohr. Kamada fell over FSV defender Andreas Hanche-Olsen while turning, and the Japanese converted the penalty himself.
However, it took a while until the second Frankfurt goal. At first, Mario Götze and Djibril Sow caused danger (27′), but only Buta extended the lead with a powerful shot worth seeing. Mainz hardly played offensively, coach Bo Svensson only saw a promising finish from Marcus Ingvartsen (35th).
The guests came out of the dressing room a little more energetic, but the FSV hardly created any significant chances. Frankfurt managed the lead – and then struck again. Kolo Muani escaped the Mainz defense after a counterattack and finished ice cold.
On the other hand, SGE goalkeeper Kevin Trapp was challenged for the first time against Danny da Costa (63rd). Eintracht remained dangerous through Kamada (66th) – and retained control in the final phase.
Eintracht Frankfurt – 1. FSV Mainz 05: The voices of the game
Oliver Glasner (Eintracht Frankfurt coach): “It was a very deserved win, an excellent first half. It was a great performance. Congratulations to the players for how they dealt with the situation. It’s going on, we’re in the tunnel. We can see the goal at the back, which is called Europe . This win will give us confidence and faith again.”
Bo Svensson (FSV Mainz 05 coach): “We were inferior in every respect and didn’t have control at any stage. That’s disappointing. I don’t think I can blame the team for not wanting to. We have to realize that we don’t have the confidence and physical freshness where we were a few weeks ago.”
Eintracht Frankfurt – 1. FSV Mainz 05: The data for the game
