You’ve done it again. This time, Levski Sofia’s Bulgarians struck in the penultimate minute of six minutes of added time. At this point, Eintracht thought they were on the right track towards the group stage of the Conference League. But a splendid shot by Fadiga from almost 30 meters dashed all Frankfurt hopes of going into the play-off second leg next Thursday with a sense of achievement. The 1-0 result lasted for a long time, scored by the man who already has cult status in Frankfurt because of his goals: Randal Kolo Muani. This time the stormy Frenchman scored after just six minutes. Dino Toppmöller shouldn’t like the fact that Fadiga gave the game a bitter note from Eintracht’s point of view.
For the Frankfurt coach, the starting position, which has seemed good for a long time, is suddenly completely different again. A win in the second leg is now a must in order to achieve the minimum goal, the group phase in the Conference League. “He doesn’t shoot it again that often,” said Eintracht goalkeeper Kevin Trapp after the 1-1: “We didn’t do enough up front. We have to blame ourselves for the draw. In the end, Lewski did more for the game,” added the Eintracht captain.
The scene in the first half was unbelievable when Welton crossed the ball to his free Brazilian compatriot Ronaldo. But instead of pushing into the empty goal from a few meters, the ball landed in Trapp’s arms (39th). The draw at that point would not have been undeserved. The fact that Eintracht took the lead early was the result of many factors. Junior Dina Ebimbe took measurements from beyond the edge of the penalty area, Mario Götze was the quickest to react when it was time to play the ball into Lewski’s danger zone – and Kolo Muani at the end of this special back three didn’t miss the chance to score to make it 1-0.
Around 1,500 Eintracht fans who had traveled with them in the Wassil Levski National Stadium, which was well attended by almost 40,000 spectators, were delighted with the reliable Frenchman; also sports director Markus Krösche, who said that there was “no new status” in the case of the courted attacker. What was new was that Toppmöller called three new players into the starting XI: Omar Marmoush, Jens Petter Hauge and Aurelio Buta. Buta attracted attention with two fouls, but was lucky that he wasn’t cautioned for it.
Anno Hecker Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 2 Ralf Weitbrecht, Frankfurt Published/Updated: Recommendations: 1 Jörg Daniels Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 4
The Bulgarians, who had secured eligibility for the two play-off ties against Eintracht in the previous round only after Welton’s winner in the sixth minute of injury time, increased their attacking efforts in the second half and were late for their enthusiasm rewarded by Fadiga’s famous long-range shot.
