Eintracht Frankfurt has apparently found its way to success. After the 2-0 win at the surprise third SC Freiburg, the Hessians knock on the door to the upper half of the table.
Kevin Trapp, beaming with joy, jumped towards the stands to the fans, coach Oliver Glasner applauded his assistants and substitutes with a relaxed smile in the coaching zone: Eintracht Frankfurt now apparently has a 2-0 (2-0) at the surprise third SC Freiburg found in the Bundesliga in the Europa League mode.
Trapps and Glasner’s satisfaction after the second victory of the internationally undefeated Hessen in the upper house in a row was only too understandable, since their team, which started the season very bumpily, is knocking on the door to the upper half of the table.
“That was an absolute team success and nice to look at,” commented Glasner on the DAZN microphone, Frankfurt’s only third Bundesliga success under his direction with goals from Jesper Lindström (34th) and Filip Kostic (43rd). The 47-year-old made no secret of his relief, who had taken responsibility for the Hessians’ teething problems in the run-up to the game (“I’m chalking that up”): “We’re all incredibly happy.”
Trapp also took a deep breath while looking at the table. “The victory was important because other teams also won down below,” stated the keeper and summed up: “We were a little lucky, but we also worked well for it. If you fight like that, you can win.”
SC Freiburg in crisis? “Certainly not!”
The camp of the initially apparently disenchanted Freiburg team ticked off the second defeat in a row and the first home bankruptcy after nine encounters without defeat across the seasons.
“We didn’t do everything right, but a lot was good. But some days it just doesn’t work,” said coach Christian Streich. His captain Christian Günter did not want to take the setbacks as a clue for the rest of the season: “We didn’t play a bad game, but there are no walk-ins in the Bundesliga,” said the 28-year-old and made it clear: “We’re talking after a defeat at Bayern Munich and one at home certainly not from a crisis. “
In front of 32,500 spectators, both teams first felt each other. After the first attempts by guests, Freiburg increasingly took the initiative. In the middle of the first round, Trapp had to prevent his team from falling behind three times within six minutes.
The Eintracht lead came as a surprise: Lindström used uncertainties in the league’s best defense with only nine goals conceded and a rebound to his first goal of the season. Nine minutes later, a free kick planned by Kostic as a cross from the right half-field in the Freiburg penalty area sailed past friends and foes as well as the perplexed SC goalkeeper Mark Flekken into the goal.
Freiburg in aluminum bad luck – Tuta clears the line
The Freiburg team came out of the dressing room ambitious. Five minutes after a post header from Nicolas Höfler, Vincenzo Grifo fell in a duel in the Frankfurt penalty area and left Freiburg’s appendix hoping for a penalty (55th). But when asked by referee Florian Badstübner (Windsbach), Italians admitted that he had not been hit by his opponent Chandler. “I didn’t feel any contact,” said Grifo, putting his fall into perspective: “We always want to win fair.”
His fairness was almost rewarded only 60 seconds later, but Grifo’s volley shot the Brazilian Tuta for the already beaten Trapp off the line. Before that, the Freiburg team failed on the post.
In the course of the ever more open exchange of blows, the Glasner-Elf also had chances. But one after the other, Lindström gave away against Flekken (57th) and Daichi Kamada (58th). After that, Frankfurt withdrew more, but the hosts could not convert their visual superiority into countable success.
