ZBetween joy and frustration was studying television. Eintracht saw themselves as a narrow 1-0 winner against 1. FC Köln on Sunday. But the equalizer in the 82nd minute, which required a longer clarification due to an offside position and a visual impairment of Eintracht goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, finally counted.
“Every weekend we have discussions about those damn offside goals. I’m sorry for my choice of words, but it’s just crazy!” The goalkeeper later raged on DAZN. And further: “I’m sorry, but if there is one, then it’s offside. I don’t even react, I don’t see the ball! I don’t understand why this isn’t rigorously whistled to.” His coach Oliver Glasner didn’t understand the decision either: “The striker is in Kevin’s line – then it’s offside.”
In the end it was 1-1 for Eintracht, who invested a lot against the unruly FC, but were not rewarded with the longed-for first win of the season at the end of the hard-fought seven-minute stoppage time.
Frankfurt’s opening goal was scored by Daichi Kamada, who scored a deflected free kick immediately after coming on as a substitute (71st minute). 50,800 spectators in the Frankfurt Arena, which was not entirely sold out, saw Jan Uwe Thielmann make it 1-1.
Ebimbe is from Paris
Half an hour before the start of the game, fans who sympathized with Eintracht received the first important news of Sunday. The club announced they have finally secured the services of French midfielder Eric Junior Dina Ebimbe. Ebimbe comes on a year-long loan from Paris Saint-Germain.
Following this, Eintracht has a purchase option. Ebimbe, who is now 21, had played football mainly in the French capital since 2012. He made his professional debut aged 18 at AC Le Havre; in the 2020/21 season he was on loan for Dijon. In the past season Ebimbe was in 14 games for the permanent champions Paris. A total of 40 appearances in Ligue 1 are on his career sheet.
“You will get the time you need with us”
The Frankfurt sports director Markus Krösche was impressed by the loan player on Sunday: “With Éric Junior Dina Ebimbe we were able to strengthen our midfield in a targeted manner, which means that we see ourselves well prepared for the tasks in three competitions. At the same time, his versatility, dynamism and game intelligence makes us even more unpredictable and increases our tactical flexibility.”
The Eintracht manager added in a club statement that the young Frenchman “was able to learn a lot alongside world stars last year”. In order to be able to develop the potential he is said to have at Eintracht, “we give him the necessary time and all the support”.
It was not a surprise that the Eintracht coach decided to switch systems for tactical reasons. After all, Glasner had worked behind closed doors with his team for the past week. It was necessary to rehearse the new four-man defense chain, with which many things should be different and better from now on.
Of course, the system change also brought changes in personnel. So Kristijan Jakic was able to prove himself on the right rear post from the start. The position on the left was intended for new signing Luca Pellegrini. Centrally, Tuta and Evan Ndicka should ensure stable conditions against the Cologne team, who had previously been highly rated by Glasner.
On the offensive, Eintracht’s main focus was on the dual leadership formed by Rafael Borré and Randal Kolo Muani. Support from the stormy wing positions should come from Mario Götze and Jesper Lindström. Former regular player Ansgar Knauff watched what was going on from the bench, as did Kamada, who was ailing recently.
Trapp hardly busy
Against Cologne, the plan with the new tactical requirement worked for a long time, because Kevin Trapp hardly got anything to do. FC attackers only appeared twice near the Frankfurt goal in the first half of the game, in which Trapp didn’t let himself be put under pressure by either Steffen Tigges (38 minutes) or Sargis Adamyan (44 minutes).
On the other side of the field, first-class Eintracht chances were also scarce. The Cologne defense was also well organized in midsummer temperatures. After exactly half an hour, it was Frankfurt’s newcomer Pellegrini, who played confidently and confidently, who tried a low shot from 20 meters.
Kamada only takes a few seconds
After the break, it was Lindström who should have put Eintracht in the lead, but the Dane, attacking the goal alone from a half-right position, allowed himself to be pushed aside by FC goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe (48′). Muani also had a splendid chance to score, but the attacker hesitated too long (68′).
Kamada showed how to do it better. It took the Japanese just seconds to delight the crowd with a free-kick just after coming on for Lindstrom. Schwäbe was also powerless against Kamada’s direct free kick because FC captain Jonas Hector deflected the ball slightly (71′).
Everything looked like a home win for Eintracht – until substitute Jan Uwe Thielmann took a volley from 18 meters and shot in unstoppable for Trapp to make it 1-1 (82nd). The equalizer was followed by an interruption of several minutes, because the video referee had to clarify whether Dietz had obstructed Trapp’s view. Referee Martin Petersen didn’t see it that way, to the Eintracht captain’s annoyance.
:quality(85)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/HFY7EBABIBAEPPPUGMOUDH4LQE.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1)