Dhe coach kept his word. “We hope that with a win on Sunday we can send a little greeting to the top.” No sooner said than done. Eintracht actually won 2-1 against VfL Bochum, as coach Oliver Glasner aimed for – and Jürgen Grabowski would have liked that very much. A victory for “his” Eintracht, three days after the death of the honorary captain, who was more than just an icon and a legend of Eintracht.
On Sunday, Eintracht also ended a negative series. Since the start of the second half of the season, the Glasner team had lost all four matches in front of their home crowd. Not anymore. Erhan Masovic with an own goal (46th minute) and Daichi Kamada (52nd) scored the liberating goals when Sebastian Polter conceded (19th). “The lads did a fantastic job after the break,” Glasner praised his team, who managed to make the “0:1 goal” forgotten.
Glasner did nothing for the plan to win the third competitive game in a row. He left it with his well-established regular formations, which had already been victorious in Berlin and Seville. After just two minutes, Kamada appeared in front of the Bochum goal, but just missed it. Filip Kostic, who was hit by many attacks, also had a chance but failed to score (11′).
Eintracht goes 0-1 on break
Bochum then took over this part. They used a standard that worked perfectly. Free kick Konstantinos Stafylidis, header Sebastian Polter – goal (19th). VfL showed how to do that in a stadium where the mood was sometimes depressing. The fans for the most part refrained from singing with powerful voices. The death of Eintracht legend Grabowski also seemed to have affected them.
Five minutes after the lead, the newly promoted team failed to increase to 2-0. The scoring opportunity that Takuma Asano offered from point-blank range was nothing short of magnificent. But no less magnificent was the save that Eintracht goalkeeper Kevin Trapp showed and prevented major misfortune so early on. The fact that in the following action driver Djibril Sow saw yellow after a sliding tackle has consequences. Since it was the fifth warning for the Swiss, he will be suspended from the away game in Leipzig next Sunday.
The fans commemorated the late club legend Jürgen Grabowski.
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Image: dpa
When the nimble and hard-working Jesper Lindström was fouled just outside the penalty area in the 30th minute, Kostic was able to take the shot unhindered. But twice the Serb forgave. First he shot the ball into the wall, then far over the Bochum goal. When Lindström put Kostic in the limelight and he bumped into Herbert Bockhorn and fell in the penalty area, the crowd called for a penalty (41′). But referee Marco Fritz assessed the scene differently – and so did the video assistant in the Cologne basement. Eintracht also went into the break 0-1 because VfL goalkeeper Manuel Riemann cleared Hinteregger’s header in dire need (45+1).
When things went on in the second half, Eintracht played like they were unleashed. A minute after the restart the equalizer was achieved. Lindström’s shot was deflected into his own goal by Masovic. 1:1 – the game was open again. Just six minutes later, she got the decisive turn. At the end of a four-man combination via Kostic, Ansgar Knauff and Lindström, it was Kamada who, as in the Europa League on Wednesday, pushed in unchallenged in Seville.
The 2-1 result of this brave one-two was deserved, and Eintracht could have made things clear in the 69th minute. Again it was the quick Knauff, who had asserted himself on the right and looked for Rafael Borré, who was ready to score, with a pass. But the ball didn’t arrive. In the last minute of regular time, it was Trapp who was on the post twice.
He couldn’t hold onto Jürgen Locadia’s shot, and when Christopher Antwi-Adjei was about to equalize for Bochum with his follow-up shot, Trapp showed his class and made a splendid save. Later, when Eintracht couldn’t let the 2-1 win out of their hands, even after more than five minutes of added time, Trapp spoke of a “very decent, dominant game”. Sow, who once again played brilliantly, was “very proud and happy. Today we showed the callousness that is needed.” The Swiss summed up: “The lightness is back, the self-confidence too.” When asked about the 37 points that mean ninth place, Eintracht sports director Markus Krösche said: ” We’ll see that we stick with it.” Grabowski would have liked that too.
