In his almost two and a half years at Eintracht Frankfurt, Djibril Sow has hardly been a goal scorer for a long time. But now the strong midfielder scored his second goal in a fortnight in Istanbul. Is that just a coincidence? Or is there more to it?
The creation of the 1:0 in the European League away game at Fenerbahce was a treat. Admittedly, the goal was not preceded by any footballing brilliance, two simple passes were enough to set up the incoming Djibril Sow. However, Daichi Kamada’s ball capture alone was a treat for lovers of pressing. The Japanese player put Fenerbahce centre-back Min-Jae Kim under pressure in exemplary fashion until he won the ball on the half-left near the penalty area. “We play very good pressing and then we also have mechanisms for resolving the situations. Often the side furthest from the ball gets the ball,” explained coach Oliver Glasner. The ball was won, followed by a quick pass to Filip Kostic and a prompt forwarding to Sow. He remained “cool”, as Glasner puts it, and pushed the ball into the goal “in the style of a centre forward”.
A fortnight ago, the Swiss international had already scored a goal after a corner in the home match against Union Berlin (2:1). Before that, however, Sow had only scored once for Frankfurt since signing in the summer of 2019: in the brilliant 5:1 home win against FC Bayern a good two years ago. It is all the more remarkable that he has now scored twice in such a short space of time. Is that just coincidence? Or is there more to it?
Calls for midfielders to be present up front
It is clear that the loss of top goal scorer André Silva must be absorbed over many shoulders. Glasner therefore demands that, in addition to the wingers, the midfielders also show up in the penalty area to ensure a sufficient presence there. That worked remarkably well in the first half in Istanbul, with Kristijan Jakic also appearing dangerously twice in the sixteen (23rd, 26th). “The penalty area occupation and the running routes were very good in many situations, especially in the first half,” praised Glasner, but immediately added critically: “That’s only the first step, the second is the exploitation of the goal chances. Before Fenerbahce even shot at our goal for the first time, we should have been leading 2:0, 3:0. Then it would have been an even quieter evening.”
Already in the 2:3 in the previous away match at TSG Hoffenheim, efficiency was lacking in the face of 7:5 chances for Frankfurt. The team absolutely must get to grips with this shortcoming on Sunday against Leverkusen. Eintracht will not be able to afford to waste chances against this top team. But perhaps Sow has also acquired a taste for it. In any case, the recent successes should provide plenty of self-confidence
