Eckert Ayensa scores to win
©IMAGO
Disillusionment instead of a magical European evening: Eintracht Frankfurt has already failed in the round of 16 of the Conference League. The Bundesliga club lost the second leg of the playoffs against Union Saint-Gilloise 1-2 (0-0) on Thursday and was eliminated after the 2-2 draw in the first leg.
In front of 57,300 fans, the Hessians put in a disappointing performance in the duel with the Belgian championship leaders led by German coach Alexander Blessin and must now concentrate entirely on the championship. Cameron Puertas (47th minute) and former Ingolstadt player Dennis Eckert Ayensa (80th) sealed the defeat of the 2022 Europa League winner with their goals, which junior Dina Ebimbe (88th) only managed to catch up.
Unlike the first duel a week ago, where Eintracht already led 2-0 after ten minutes, the Belgians were not surprised this time. Although the Hessians tried to control the match from the start, they hardly posed any danger. On the contrary: the guests created the first opportunities for themselves. First, Eintracht goalkeeper Kevin Trapp had to make a lot of effort to deal with a long shot from Koki Machida, then a precise cross from Alessio Castro-Montes whistled just beyond the second post.
After a good quarter of an hour, Eintracht celebrated the supposed first goal, but shooter Fares Chaibi was offside when Aurelio Buta passed the ball. But there was little to see from the home side in attack as they lacked the creative ideas and necessary precision. Thus, a free kick in added time of the first half was to be the first good chance of the match for the home team. Chaibi failed on a direct free kick from the strongly reacting guest goalkeeper Anthony Moris.
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After the change, Frankfurt was caught off guard. A little over 60 seconds had just played when the guests applauded. Mohammed Amoura passed to Puertas, who gave Trapp no chance with a well-placed shot from 16 yards. The Hessians defense still seemed to be thinking in the locker room.
Unity was now needed – but at first there was no reaction. The attacks were far too static, so the visitors’ defense was able to regroup again and again. Coach Dino Toppmöller reacted after an hour and called on two new offensive players, Hugo Ekitiké and Dina Ebimbe.
But it was still the Belgians who had the best opportunities. After a good counter-attack, Puertas was free again, but this time Trapp managed to repel the Spaniard’s shot and maintain the hope of a turnaround. 13 minutes from time, Niels Nkounkou had the opportunity to equalize, but Moris brilliantly saved the Frenchman’s header. Just 120 seconds later, Eckert made the decision with a sharp shot in the corner. Dina Ebimbe’s late header didn’t change that.
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