2023-10-10 02:35:00
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Exciting: Omar Marmoush (right) is happy with goal scorer Hugo Larsson. © IMAGO/Jan Huebner
Eintracht Frankfurt beat promoted team Heidenheim 2-0 – Ebimbe and Alario were dropped for disciplinary reasons
At the very end, a crowd formed around the man in the yellow sweater, Kevin Trapp, the goalkeeper, the Eintracht captain. Everyone patted each other on the back, hugged each other, clenched their fists and shouted their joy. The redemption in the Frankfurt camp was palpable, even palpable, following Eintracht’s significant 2-0 (1-0) win once morest 1.FC Heidenheim, the first three-pointer since the first matchday once morest Darmstadt 98.
“It was very important to win this game,” said sports director Markus Krösche. Especially before the upcoming break in the Bundesliga, such a sense of achievement is “important for the feeling.” Krösche’s summary: “The relief is great.” Especially since the criticism has recently become louder and the team had to leave the field as losers twice in a row. The sports director is already looking towards the top once more: “That was another step forward. It’s good that we didn’t let the upward gap disappear.”
Coach Dino Toppmöller rotated once more, exactly in the positions that he himself had identified as the problem areas: on the offensive and on the wings. Aurelio Buta came into the team on the right for Ansgar Knauff and Philipp Max celebrated his starting comeback, replacing Niels Nkounkou. And: Jessic Ngankam was allowed to try his hand at the front, Omar Marmoush moved back a position, and Jens Petter Hauge only had a place on the bench. Not a bad move.
The game got off to a quick start: following just three minutes, referee Daniel Schlager pointed to the spot, Heidenheim’s defender Tim Siersleben is said to have touched the ball with his hand. But the video assistant moved the “crime scene” outside, and Siersleben actually touched the ball not with his hand, but with his hip. So be it. The following free kick fizzled out.
The guests also played along very well at the beginning, following Tuta easily missed the ball, Jan-Niklas Beste put the ball just past the Eintracht goal (12th). And then, deep in the first section, the Frankfurt team pulled together their best attack: Ellyes Skhiri passed flat to Buta, who passed the ball deep to the fast Marmoush, and he was so quick that FCH keeper Kevin Müller simply beat him knocked off his feet. Penalty, rightly so, and without any discussions. Jessic Ngankam, the striker, grabbed the ball, he would have shot following three minutes, ran up and put it quite clearly over the crossbar (30th).
It’s surprising that the young Berliner was allowed to grab the ball: he already lost his nerve from the spot at the U21 European Championships in the summer, and in Frankfurt he failed on his first day with his very first touch of the ball in the Eintracht jersey from eleven meters: a missed shot once morest SG Baroque city of Fulda-Lehnerz. And the penalty that was converted last time out in the test once morest Wehen Wiesbaden wasn’t exactly sealed with confidence. Ngankam will initially be allowed to take a place at the back of the internal penalty hierarchy. Rightly so.
But the hosts stayed on the ball and gradually increased the pressure, and that was to be rewarded. After a blocked shot, Swedish talent Hugo Larsson simply shot it from a distance and the ball whizzed past all the red defensive legs and into the net, 1-0 (39th). Breathe a sigh of relief in the city forest. And in the second section, the Hessians remained more pleasant and grippy and also had the better chances. Fares Chaibi was denied by goalkeeper Müller (69′), a minute later Skhiri managed the feat of shooting the ball past the post from eleven meters, and so it was a co-production between two substitute players that had to bring the decision: the surprisingly strong Buta took another attempt from the right, passed inside, where the very robust and remarkably ripped young striker Nacho cleverly let the ball pass and behind him Ansgar Knauff completed the decision with the inside (72nd), 2-0, the decision. It no longer mattered that Chaibi failed far too casually (76th) and keeper Kevin Trapp parried once morest Adrian Beck (74th).
What was almost lost at the end: well before kick-off, the sporting management took rigorous action and sent a signal that should have an impact – externally, but especially internally. Coach Dino Toppmöller and sports director Markus Krösche temporarily suspended two players and banned them from the squad for the game once morest the newcomer. Eric Dina Ebimbe, a long-time favorite at the start of the season, and Lucas Alario did not make it into the squad. Eintracht officially announced before the game that Alario was still lacking training and Ebimbe had slight following-effects from the Paok game. Krösche also kept an official low profile, citing the “performance principle” as the reason.
Rather, both actors have become conspicuous for their lack of discipline; it is not just unpunctuality that is a big issue. The issue has been simmering for a few weeks. Now the barrel has overflowed. The sporting leadership felt that it was time to show a clear edge and curtail the comfort zone a little. Both are said to have a certain casual attitude to their careers. Ebimbe has often been said internally to have a tendency towards laissez-faire; in the summer, Krösche called him an “extroverted guy who needs to grow up.” Or just needs a wake-up call, a lesson. There was also one for striker Alario, who was actually supposed to return to the squad once morest Heidenheim. But the Argentine ruined it with his behavior.
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