Europa League win at West Ham
Frankfurt sees success as a valuable warning
By Hendrik Buchheister, London
4/29/2022, 7:39 am
Eintracht Frankfurt has secured a brilliant starting position with the narrow victory in the semi-final first leg of the Europa League at West Ham United. The dreams of the finale take shape. However, caution is advised.
What wasn’t supposed to happen happened. The semi-final first leg of the Europa League was over, most people had left the London Stadium, the soccer players from Eintracht Frankfurt were standing on the lawn and were being celebrated by the 3,000 fans in the guest block, mostly dressed in white. But it was not only from there that they were worshiped. Also in the upper tier of the grandstand, a group of around 100 spectators sang: “Away win! Away win!”
Hosts West Ham United urgently wanted to prevent guest fans from staying in the home sectors. And even if by no means 30,000 Frankfurters had gained access to the stadium, as in the second leg of the quarter-finals at FC Barcelona, some members of the Eintracht community had managed to undermine West Ham’s offensively communicated zero-tolerance strategy in the allocation of tickets.
It was a small success for Frankfurt on the evening of a big victory. They beat West Ham 2-1 with a lightning goal from Ansgar Knauff in the first minute and a steal from Daichi Kamada in the 54th minute. “We watched the first minutes of the Barça game again beforehand and said that we wanted to play the first ball forward at full speed and put pressure on,” said Knauff: We managed that very well. I make it 1-0 with our first attack – that’s obviously a great start and it pushed us.”
The starting position for the second leg next week Thursday in the home stadium (9 p.m./on free TV on RTL, on RTL+ and in the live ticker on ntv.de) is brilliant, getting into the final on May 18 in Seville against RB Leipzig or Rangers from Glasgow (first leg 1-0) is more than just a dream, but a scenario that seems tangible.
“It makes me very proud to work with such guys and players,” said coach Oliver Glasner after the final whistle, deep down in the London Stadium, which is a mysterious labyrinth of corridors and stairwells in which people have probably gotten lost.
The volume is impressive
Glasner was particularly happy that his team didn’t allow themselves to be intimidated by the atmosphere, but approached the big event with great character. The Europa League is not only a serious matter for Eintracht Frankfurt, but also for West Ham. The club is in an international semi-final for the first time in 46 years.
The atmosphere was correspondingly impressive. Before kick-off, the stadium DJ turned up the speakers so loud that even experienced visitors to heavy metal concerts or techno parties might have had their ears ringing. At kick-off, the 60,000 or so spectators made such a noise as probably never before since West Ham moved into the stadium in 2016.
And then? The guests took the lead after 49 seconds through Knauff’s header, it was the earliest goal in Frankfurt’s Europa League history. The framework of the game didn’t seem to bother the team. “This self-confidence and courage impresses me,” said Glasner. It’s not like the lightning start at London Stadium was a one-off.
In the second leg of the quarter-finals in Barcelona (3-2), Frankfurt had already led early thanks to Filip Kostić’s penalty in the fourth minute. But while the game at Camp Nou went in only one direction for a long time, namely in favor of Frankfurt, West Ham put up more resistance and equalized midway through the first half through Michail Antonio.
Management mode is not enough in the second leg
The Frankfurters made a strong game, especially in the second half, they showed a mature performance and came to the deserved 2-1 through Kamada. Still, the event could have produced another winner. West Ham hit the woodwork three times, most spectacularly through top scorer Jarrod Bowen in injury time. His overhead kick hit the bottom of the bar. “Of course it would have been bitter to concede the 2-2 with the last action, but you also work for this luck,” said Eintracht goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.
Still, Frankfurt are warned that West Ham can always be dangerous, right up to the last second. The team has enough weapons: the uncontrollable Bowen, the powerful striker Antonio or set pieces. In the Premier League, only Manchester City and Liverpool are better at corners, free-kicks and penalties.
West Ham have knocked out record Europa League winners Sevilla FC and won the second leg of the quarter-finals convincingly 3-0 at Olympique Lyon. The Frankfurt delegation is rightly aware that victory at the London Stadium is no guarantee of reaching the final. “It’s only half-time,” warned Glasner, predicting that an even bigger performance could be needed in the second leg: “We’ll analyze the game well, West Ham will analyze it well too, and then we need to step it up a notch to our to realize the final dream.”
Despite all the warnings about the pitfalls of the second leg, it is also clear to the coach that he will not simply tell his team to save the narrow lead to the finish. That would go against her nature. “There will be no administration. Our game is forward-looking. We feel comfortable with that, that’s how we want to act,” said Glasner. The plan is for Eintracht Frankfurt to reach the final on May 18 with flying colors.