After a strong performance against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, Eintracht Frankfurt has achieved its first victory of the season in the Bundesliga. Even without last-minute signing Mahmoud Dahoud, Eintracht won 3-1 (2-0) at home on the second matchday. The goals for Frankfurt were scored in front of 57,100 spectators by striker Hugo Ekitiké (24th minute), Hugo Larsson (33rd) and the outstanding Omar Marmoush (56th). Andrej Kramaric (54th) scored for Hoffenheim.
The Frankfurt team made an impressive comeback at their home premiere this season after their opening defeat against Borussia Dortmund and picked up their first points. Meanwhile, TSG disappointed after their victory on the first matchday against Holstein Kiel.
“We are really looking forward to playing here in front of our fans again,” said Eintracht coach Dino Toppmöller before the duel between the two Europa League participants. And his counterpart Pellegrino Matarazzo was also full of expectations about the game and described the away game as a “great challenge”.
Eintracht dominates in the first half
Without the two-time German national player Dahoud, whose transfer from English Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion was only made official on Friday evening after the end of the transfer window, Eintracht took control of the game from the start. The guests from Kraichgau focused on defense. However, this only succeeded in the early stages of the first half.
Thanks to a quick counterattack against the advancing Hoffenheim team, Ekitiké scored after an assist from Marmoush. After taking the lead, Eintracht kept the pressure on and made their mark, particularly on the left offensive side, with Marmoush and Niels Nkounkou. A long-range shot from Marmoush narrowly missed the goal (26′). Mario Götze was unable to capitalize on a cross from Nkounkou from a promising position (31′). The 2-0 was only a matter of time and came shortly afterwards when Larsson completed a dream combination via Marmoush and Ekitiké.
TSG had little to say in the first half. Eintracht goalkeeper Kevin Trapp almost gave the Kraichgauers a goal when he misjudged his run against Pavel Kaderabek and arrived too late. Frankfurt’s new signing Arthur Theate was able to clear the Czech’s cross (38′).
Kramaric scores – Eintracht strikes back
Matarazzo reacted to his team’s disappointing performance at half-time and made two changes. Mërgim Berisha came on in attack for Marius Bülter, and new signing Robin Hranac replaced the yellow-carded Tim Drexler. Kramaric’s goal came a little out of nowhere. It was the Croatian’s fourth goal of the season after his hat-trick against Kiel.
But Eintracht struck back promptly. Marmoush rounded off his performance with a 3-1 win. The fact that the Egyptian will stay with the Hessian club for the current season was announced on Friday, a few hours before the end of the transfer window. Before that, there had been some transfer rumors about the 25-year-old. Marmoush was substituted in the 80th minute to great applause. After that, TSG’s big final offensive failed to materialize.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240831-930-218983/1
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