Group victory is gone
Trapp makes a mistake when Eintracht goes bankrupt, Jakic flies and freaks out
November 30, 2023, 10:59 p.m
Eintracht Frankfurt is in the knockout round of the Conference League, but the group win is gone. Against PAOK Saloniki, the Bundesliga club quickly countered a deficit, but the second goal was the deciding factor.
The European specialists at Eintracht Frankfurt missed a great opportunity and prematurely lost their group victory in the Conference League. The Hessians lost 1:2 (0:0) against PAOK Saloniki and can no longer overtake the Greeks on the last matchday. In front of 58,000 spectators, Tomasz Kedziora (55th minute) and Andrija Zivokovic (73rd) scored the goals for the guests. The interim equalizer from Omar Marmoush (58th) was not enough for Frankfurt. Substitute Kristijan Jakic saw yellow-red in stoppage time (90+4).
At least things remained quiet in the stands this time. Five days after the serious riots between fans and police, the supporters also refrained from any targeted provocations. Before kick-off, they briefly covered their own corner, lit a few Bengal fires and waved numerous flags in the club colors. There were no provocative banners to be seen. Instead, a banner with the inscription “Freie Kurve Frankfurt” was prominently displayed between the lower and upper tiers.
Emergency on the curve
Frankfurt’s final game in Aberdeen on December 14th is more or less worthless. Both teams will spend the winter in Europe. Saloniki advances directly to the round of 16 as group winners, Eintracht has to complete an additional round. There were plenty of goal area scenes on the pitch – initially with advantages for the busy Eintracht. The strong Fares Chaibi scored for the first time after ten minutes, but was denied by Saloniki’s Dominik Kotarski. Striker Marmoush (32nd) also despaired while standing alone against the brilliantly reacting goalkeeper from Croatia.
PAOK was especially dangerous when it came to set pieces. After a cross to Konstantinos Koulierakis (23′), the crossbar saved the already beaten Kevin Trapp. Shortly afterwards, the national player defused a top-class chance from Salonika’s playmaker Thomas Murg (29th).
After this chance, everything went quiet in the Eintracht curve. This time the silence had a different reason than during the riots against Stuttgart. There was an emergency medical intervention in the middle of the Frankfurt fan block. The situation was covered with a flag for minutes, and only then was the person carried out of the stadium on a stretcher by several paramedics. The person was approachable, Eintracht announced during the break.
Eintracht counters once, Jakic freaks out
After the change, the goals followed. The visitors’ lead came from a slapstick situation after a corner: in the Eintracht penalty area, no Frankfurter cleared the ball right in front of Trapp until Kedziora shot in freely. The goal was like a wake-up call for Eintracht. Marmoush’s equalizer came just three minutes later after a nice combination via Mario Götze and Chaibi.
Shortly afterwards, Hugo Larsson even made it 2-1, but it was called back for offside. That took revenge. When Trapp made a mistake, Zivkovic was there and finished for Saloniki. “I think Trapp is a top-class goalkeeper,” said record national player Lothar Matthäus on RTL. “He is one of the best goalkeepers in Europe, this is a bitter moment for him.” In the 85th minute, Marmoush could have alleviated his goalkeeper’s frustration, but the attacker missed a great chance to equalize again.
In stoppage time, Jakic was sent off with a yellow-red card. The Croatian’s departure is likely to have repercussions: Jakic first attacked the referee and had to be pushed away by several teammates, and later he stood up in front of the fourth official. A few moments after the freakout it was over.