1. FC Union loses 1: 2 at Eintracht Frankfurt

Filip Kostic leaned forward and supported himself with his hands on his thighs. The outstanding left winger of Eintracht Frankfurt had to take a deep breath after another rapid sprint, but smiled slightly. His opponents from 1. FC Union, on the other hand, looked completely drained from constantly chasing after them, and they didn’t feel like laughing. The superiority of the Frankfurters was too clear, the Berliners had too little chance in this phase.

The scene took place a few seconds before half-time and Union could hardly find a better place in the game even after the break. Nevertheless, it looked like a point win for the Berliners until the fifth minute of stoppage time – until Kostic crossed one last time, Evan Ndicka headed and Frankfurt won 2: 1 (1: 0) in front of 24,000 spectators, happy but well deserved. As a result, tired Berliners missed the possible leap to a Champions League place.

“It was a difficult game for us,” said Union coach Urs Fischer. “It is a deserved victory for Frankfurt. They had enough opportunities to decide the game sooner, but they didn’t. And then you have to take this point with you. ”

Compared to the 1-0 win in Haifa on Thursday, Urs Fischer switched to four positions and had a big surprise in store. Instead of the actually seeded Niko Gießelmann, Bastian Oczipka was on the left for the first time in the Bundesliga for Union in the starting line-up. In addition, Andreas Luthe, Christopher Trimmel and Grischa Prömel replaced Frederik Rönnow, Julian Ryerson and Kevin Möhwald. After their appearance in the Europa League, the Frankfurt team only had two days to regenerate, but coach Oliver Glasner sent the same starting eleven onto the pitch for the third time in a row.

Given the recent upward trend, that was understandable – and it paid off. Eintracht pressed well, switched quickly and was superior in all respects. Especially on the left wing, the hosts used their blatant speed advantage. Kostic kept sprinting, forcing Trimmel into uncomfortable one-on-one situations and crossing dangerously.

After a bad pass from Robin Knoche, Rafael Borré achieved the supposed lead, but was just offside. In view of the oppressive superiority of Frankfurt, the 1-0 was only a matter of time – and then it was absolutely avoidable after a standard situation. Trimmel fended off a Kostic corner too short, and Djibril Sow shot from the backcourt as well positioned as it was sharp into the right angle.

Union was completely flat in the end

Union wobbled worryingly and was very lucky that Eintracht did not decide the game in the middle of the first half. After templates from Kostic, Daichi Kamada’s and Kristijan Jakic’s headers were just inches away to make it 2-0. Kostic shot to the side netting at the end of a counterattack that was not played cleanly and prepared another one hundred percent chance for Borré. “We played a great first half,” said Glasner. “But it has to be two or three to zero for us.”

However, Fischer did not make any personnel changes in the dressing room and at least his team had caught up so far that Frankfurt hardly had any clear chances. But there was still little progress for the Berliners, and that didn’t change even after the numerous changes. But sometimes chance also helps. In one of the few Berlin penalty area scenes, Evan Ndicka Taiwo Awoniyi was completely naive. Max Kruse converted the penalty.

Union then limited itself to defending, Frankfurt lacked the punch. So everything pointed to a flattering Berlin point win. But the last few weeks have shown that you should never be too sure about unity. And so it was on Sunday too. Kostic crossed again, penalty initiator Ndicka rose inimitably high and headed to the deserved 2: 1. “We didn’t defend that well,” complained Fischer. (Tsp)

Source From: Tagesspiegel

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