Sunday, November 28th, 2021
Kruse-Elfer is not enough for Union
Ndicka’s last-minute flight to the Frankfurt victory
Against Union Berlin, Eintracht Frankfurt finally succeeds in the redeeming home threesome. The eagles dominate the game, despite the best chances, they wait a long time for the winning goal. With the last promotion, the Frankfurters meet and win their first league home game of the season.
Eintracht Frankfurt is also gaining momentum in the Bundesliga. With the 2: 1 (1: 0) against Union Berlin, the team of coach Oliver Glasner celebrated the third league success in a row and moved up to two points in the European Cup ranks. The Köpenicker, on the other hand, missed the leap onto a Champions League place.
Djibril Sow (22nd) and Evan Ndicka (90th + 5) rewarded the SGE for a strong performance and ensured the long-awaited first Bundesliga home win this season. Urs Fischer’s team was only able to compensate for the interim through Max Kruse (62nd, penalty kick) and looked tired at the end of a previously successful week.
Union was the “physically best team in the Bundesliga”, had warned Glasner. And yet he sent the same team as in the exhausting Europa League game against Royal Antwerp (2-2) on the field. Fischer moved to four positions compared to the win at Maccabi Haifa (1-0).
At first, however, the Hessians seemed to have coped with the exhausting European Cup evening on Thursday much better. Without their defense chief Martin Hinteregger, who sat on the bench after his injury break, the SGE convinced in the first half. The driving force was once again the strong Filip Kostic.
Last second hit
After a cross from the Serb, the rebound landed at Sow, who set the ball in the corner. Even after that, Eintracht developed great momentum, especially on the left side, and created numerous top-class opportunities. Daichi Kamada (25th), Kristijan Jakic (29th) as well as Kostic (36th) and Rafael Borre (41st) missed the best opportunities.
The Berliners, where regular goalkeeper Andreas Luthe and captain Christopher Trimmel were back, were lucky that they were only one goal behind at the break. Offensive Union remained completely harmless and revealed unusually large gaps in the defense.
Little changed at first, even after the change of sides. When Eintracht got Kostic up and running, it was dangerous – Jesper Lindström (47th) missed the second goal early on. The guests, on the other hand, did not find their way into the game and too often came a step too late.
Out of nowhere, however, Union reported once in front of the Frankfurt goal and benefited from an unnecessary foul by Evan Ndicka on Taiwo Awoniyi – Kruse certainly converted to equalize. However, the hit Fischer’s team did not bring the hoped-for momentum for the final phase, while Eintracht put pressure on the renewed lead. After a cross from Kostic, Ndicka hit his head.