The intermediate round is safe, the direct round of 16 entry in sight. After the late 2:1 victory in Piraeus the protagonists of Eintracht Frankfurt were pleased about a hard-earned success.
Two scenes in particular symbolised Frankfurt’s triumph in Greece: In the 36th minute, SGE keeper Kevin Trapp made a fine save from Giorgos Masouras, who appeared completely free in front of goal. In the second half, it was coach Oliver Glasner himself who suddenly had an emotional outburst in the 68th minute. First he angrily kicked a ball away on the touchline and promptly received a yellow card from referee Alexey Kulbakov.
If this action was a wake-up call for his team, which was not always present in the offensive, then it worked. Only about a minute later, Joker Jesper Lindström had the best chance for the SGE in the second half. It was Lindström, in a duet of jokers, who finally set up Jens Petter Hauge for the late winner in injury time (90.+2).
Cleared-up Glasner punishes himself
Glasner was no longer emotionally upset after the game, but rather tidy: “It was a great performance from us in a difficult game in front of a sell-out crowd. We went behind with the first action, but I liked the reaction. The 1:1 was superbly played out, after that we became a bit too passive for my taste. The second half was characterised by a great fight, we withstood the pressure and Kevin was always there,” the Austrian summed up;
Meanwhile, the 47-year-old imposed a punishment on himself for his little freak-out during the game. So he wanted to voluntarily pay a fine into the team’s coffers. “I was cheering along, but of course that was not okay,” said Glasner, adding with a smile with regard to his quite tight but not fully hit shot: “I think I could have hit it even better. It slipped a bit. “
Chandler praises the Spirit
After the Hessians had not scored in injury time for the first time this season – most recently last weekend in the 1:1 against RB Leipzig – Timothy Chandler tried his hand at explaining the new special discipline: “In the end, it’s the mentality that counts. The late goals show the spirit that we believe we can win until the last minute. It showed again that we have it right in the team.”
