For a long time it looked as if Eintracht Frankfurt would not be able to get beyond a draw against Royal Antwerp, before Joker Goncalo Paciencia redeemed Eintracht with his emotional goal.
So, after all: Eintracht Frankfurt can still win. After eight games without a win and five 1-1 draws in a row, the SGE scored 1-0 against Royal Antwerp in the Europa League, their first win of the season. For a long time it had looked like another draw. For almost the entire duration of the game, Eintracht struggled to create clear chances against the defence of the Belgian hosts. A penalty, however, brought redemption – and two jokers.
Paciencia’s golden goal
In the 72nd minute, coach Oliver Glasner substituted Jesper Lindström for Sam Lammers, later bringing on Goncalo Paciencia for Rafael Santos Borré. The jokers stung. With a fine dribble, Lindström won a penalty against Royal defender Dinis Almeida (90th). “I asked Jesper if he wanted to shoot,” recapped Paciencia after the game. “He said I could shoot.” And the 27-year-old converted ice-cold (90.+1). “Today was my time,” said the striker.
The fact that the Portuguese was the decisive man so close to the end was as surprising as it was redemptive for him and the SGE. After a disappointing season at Schalke 04 and a serious knee injury, Paciencia was one of the candidates for a strike in Frankfurt this summer. Only 36 minutes of action speak volumes – and yet he had always believed in his “chance and have the self-confidence that I can always help the team”.
“That shows human and footballing quality. “
OLIVER GLASNER
That’s exactly what Paciencia did with his golden goal, which also sealed Glasner’s first win as Frankfurt coach. “Goncalo had a hard time last season, now has the character to score that penalty,” Glasner said. “That shows human and footballing quality. “
“Hard work “
Despite this, the coach also rightly found critical words for the largely uninspired performance of his eleven: “Sometimes we make things harder for ourselves than necessary.” Eintracht made “too many unnecessary mistakes”, which is why it was a “tough job” in the end. In the end, however, relief prevailed: “You could see it in the cheers.
Eintracht must now build on this success, even if it is against the still unbeaten leaders FC Bayern on Sunday (5.30 pm, LIVE! on kicker). However, match-winner Paciencia is not deterred by this: “We believe in ourselves, you always have to do that in football.
