The coaches were at least as active, committed and emotional on the sidelines as the players on the pitch in this hard-fought Rhein-Hessen derby.
“The game was on a knife’s edge, you live the game as a coach,” said Eintracht Frankfurt coach Dino Toppmöller after the extremely happy 1-1 (0-1) win at FSV Mainz 05 on Sunday even the yellow card for the unbridled criticism just before the final whistle.
The Mainz frustration, instead of celebrating a victory they thought was certain, and still having to accept the equalizer from Omar Marmoush (90.1 minute), was great. “It was so bitter to get such a blow to the neck,” said Svensson. The South Korean Jae-Sung Lee headed the opening goal for FSV in front of 33,305 spectators in the sold-out Mainz Arena (25th).
Frankfurt before an important game against Sofia
The Frankfurters were able to prevent major discussions about the first symptoms of the crisis with the late draw after a playfully unconvincing start to the season so far, but now they have to deliver against Levski Sofia in the playoff second leg of the Conference League on Thursday (8.30 p.m.) – especially since they only won 1 :1 has been reached. “There is a lot at stake. We definitely want to get into the group phase,” emphasized Toppmöller.
After all, his team showed great morale, as they had to play without Ansgar Knauff from the 61st minute, who saw the yellow-red card. “I think it was a fair draw with a happy ending for us,” said Toppmöller. “Overall, we can live with one point. Frankfurt has now been without a win in twelve away games in the Bundesliga across the seasons.
“That was the fighting game we expected. We are unlucky to go 1-0 down, then we get a yellow-red card and then we showed what we stand for, this team spirit that we have, that we can keep up with one until the end Man less believe that we are not able to lose such a game,” said Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp on the TV station DAZN.
“Unfortunately we didn’t reward ourselves in the end”
Mainz, on the other hand, were saddened to have given up the longed-for three points in the end. “Unfortunately we didn’t reward ourselves in the end,” said returnee Phillipp Mwene, “I think we should have taken three points today.”
It paid off for the hosts that Svensson completely replaced the defense after the 4-1 draw at 1. FC Union Berlin – with new signing Sepp van den Berg in the centre. In the first half, she literally let the Eintracht pros bounce off the few offensive attempts. This also applied to Frankfurt’s top striker Randal Kolo Muani, who could hardly step into the limelight.
In the coming week it will be decided whether the Frenchman will return to his home country Paris Saint-Germain if the series champion still comes close to meeting the 100 million euro requirement of the Hessians. “There is still no new status,” said Eintracht sports director Markus Krösche once again. “Let’s see what happens in the coming days.” The transfer window closes at 6 p.m. on Friday.
