Eintracht Frankfurt has rewarded itself for a dominant performance with its second win of the season in the Bundesliga and ended its negative streak of five games without a win.
Thanks to the 2-0 (1-0) win against promoted team 1. FC Heidenheim, the Conference League participant moved up to eighth place with ten points at the end of the 7th matchday.
New signing Hugo Larsson (39th minute) with his first Bundesliga goal and Ansgar Knauff (72nd) caused the Hessians to celebrate in front of 55,800 spectators, for whom Jessic Ngankam (30th) even missed a penalty. The newcomer from Heidenheim, still winless away from home, remains tenth in the table with seven points.
In addition to the injured captain Sebastian Rode and the suspended Mario Götze, Eintracht also had to do without junior Dina Ebimbe. The Frenchman was out for a short time due to muscular problems.
Harmless offensives
For the first time this season, Frankfurt coach Dino Toppmöller tried two strikers. Ngankam moved to Omar Marmoush’s side. The home team started with a correspondingly powerful start and their efforts seemed to be rewarded early on.
After an alleged handball by Heidenheim’s Tim Siersleben, referee Daniel Schlager pointed to the penalty spot. But then the video assistant switched on because the crime scene was outside the penalty area. The following free kick achieved nothing.
However, the Hessians’ pressure phase did not last long because Heidenheim countered well. However, offensive actions by the guests were rare. The only chance in the first half came from Jan-Niklas Beste (11th), but his attempt missed the goal.
For long periods of time, the action took place between the penalty areas – until Eintracht had their first brilliant idea. Aurelio Buta fed Marmoush, who had a free path and could only be stopped illegally by Heidenheim’s goalkeeper Kevin Müller. However, Ngankam hammered the resulting penalty into the Frankfurt evening sky.
Frankfurt determined – Heidenheim comes late
The Hessians dealt with the mishap well and now played forward with more determination. Larsson’s lead was therefore deserved. The 19-year-old Swede scored with a well-placed low shot from around 22 meters.
After the change, the guests became a little more courageous, but were unable to create any major opportunities. Frankfurt stood securely on defense, but initially missed the move to the goal.
It wasn’t until 20 minutes before the end that things became dangerous in front of the visitors’ goal. After a great combination over several stations, Ellyes Skhiri was completely free to finish, but put the ball just wide of the post.
Only 120 seconds later, Eintracht celebrated when substitute Knauff finished off a nice preparatory work from Buta to make it 2-0. Heidenheim almost came close in return, but national goalkeeper Kevin Trapp made a brilliant save against Adrian Beck.
