Eintracht Frankfurt has not taken the momentum from the European Cup into everyday Bundesliga life. Three days after the celebrated 3-1 victory in the Europa League against Olympiacos Piraeus, Frankfurt conceded a 0-2 (0-1) defeat at promoted VfL Bochum on Sunday evening. The former Frankfurt professional Danny Blum scored the opening goal in the third minute in front of 19,510 spectators, Sebastian Polter (90th + 2) sealed Bochum’s third win of the season shortly before the end, the second in a row. For Eintracht it was the second bankruptcy in the Bundesliga in a row. As a result, the Hessians fell behind the Bochumers in the table on rank 15.
Surprisingly, Frankfurt coach Oliver Glasner had bet on the starting formation from the Piraeus game against Bochum – despite a short recovery time for the players. Bochum’s coach Thomas Reis, on the other hand, changed his team twice compared to the 1-0 win on matchday before at SpVgg Greuther Fürth: On the offensive, Blum and Takuma Asano were given preference over the fast Gerrit Holtmann and Milos Pantovic.
Ironically, the two newcomers in Bochum’s starting eleven ensure the optimal start right at the beginning of the game: Asano served with a good pass to Blum, who pushed the ball past Eintracht goalkeeper Kevin Trapp into the net for the lead. Less than three minutes were played. And it got even more bitter for the Frankfurters in the initial phase.
Just nine minutes after falling behind, Gonçalo Paciência missed the possible equalizer – from the penalty spot. VfL goalkeeper Manuel Riemann even held the penalty shot by the 27-year-old attacker after a handball by Polter. It was Frankfurt’s first miss from the penalty spot since April 2017 – at that time against Borussia Mönchengladbach. The following 18 penalty kicks all landed on the net. The guests from Hessen found it difficult to get into the game after the bad start to the game. They lacked precision with the passes, a structured play structure against an opponent who pressed early and ultimately also scenes in the penalty area. To make matters worse, Glasner had to replace two ailing players in Paciência (39th) and Kristina Jakic (44th) early on.
Even after the break, Bochum was closer to the second goal, attacker Asano (49./69.) Had two good chances. But first he failed to goalkeeper Trapp (49th), then he came a step too late on the cross (70th) from Gerrit Holtmann. Frankfurt braced itself against the defeat and also had chances, but the strong performance of the team as in the European Cup against Piraeus was not to be seen in everyday Bundesliga life against a promoted team. Unlucky Eintracht professional Daichi Kamada hit the post (86th), Polter then made the decision.
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