Eintracht imitated FC Bayern. In the round of 16 of the DFB Cup, the Frankfurt team also failed to overcome a hurdle that the Munich team had embarrassingly failed at in the same place on November 1st: coach Dino Toppmöller’s team lost 2-0 to 1. FC Saarbrücken on Wednesday . As a result, the Hessians missed the quarter-finals of the competition, in which they had experienced a great moment in their club history in the spring of 2018 with their triumph over the Bavarian industry leader.
The round of the last eight teams that are still there on the way to the final on May 25th in Berlin will continue at the beginning of February without Eintracht participation. The matches will be drawn this Sunday as part of the “Sportschau” program on ARD.
The goals that made the difference in front of 15,900 spectators were scored by Kai Brünker (64th minute) and Luca Kerber (77th) for the once again impressive outsider, who in the end only had to keep ten Frankfurt players at bay because youngster Noel Futkeu was six minutes later was sent off the pitch for assault (83′).
Toppmöller with four new ones
The fact that it would be much more complicated than the starting situation seemed to suggest at first glance was one of the warning messages with which Toppmöller had prepared his team for action and warned against taking the game lightly. He referred to the courage of the opponent, who had previously defeated the favorite Karlsruher SC 2-1, the emotionally challenging atmosphere in the sold-out Ludwigsparkstadion and the field conditions, which made for a slippery and bumpy surface after the persistent snow and rain Technical advantages through a neat short passing game could not be exploited.
The Eintracht coach combined his expected willingness to accept tackles better than recently in Augsburg and to advance over the halfway line with much more speed with four changes to the starting line-up: Fares Chaibi, Mario Götze, Niels Nkounkou and Makoto Hasebe moved into the starting line-up . For the Japanese, who turns forty on January 18th, it was an exception to the usual habit up until then that he was mostly left out of Toppmöller.
Kai Brünker scored 1-0 for 1. FC Saarbrücken. : Image: dpa
But with Kristijan Jakic unavailable due to a calf injury and Hugo Larsson needing a breather, Hasebe was given the opportunity for the third time in the cup to show that he is not yet a veteran. In his 296th game for Eintracht, he should use his experience to ensure order in the defensive midfield. This was only insufficiently successful.
Outsiders set the tone
The people of Saarbrücken clearly set the tone. After 20 minutes, a corner ratio of 3:0 expressed their superiority. Only because Kevin Trapp risked his life after a corner did he manage to block Kerber’s attempt (18th). Eintracht was also lucky that the video assistant can intervene in controversial situations from the cup round of 16 onwards.
Brünker’s supposed opening goal was taken back because referee Daniel Siebert, while studying the TV images on the sidelines, subsequently realized that Mohamed Naifi had previously knocked down Frankfurt’s Robin Koch (21′). Eintracht didn’t manage to do much productive in the attack; Omar Marmoush, who was initially the central leader, was barely involved by his colleagues. FCS goalkeeper Tim Schreiber only had to intervene when Nkounkou had a chance (37th), while Eric Dina Ebimbe was particularly noticeable for frustrating fouls and complaints, which earned him a yellow card.
Toppmöller reacted to what he saw, which was not at all what he had hoped for, and after the half-time break he substituted Aurelio Buta for Dina Ebimbe (who was in danger of being sent off) and striker Nacho Ferri for defender Philipp Max. He wanted to set an offensive accent. A shot from Marmoush, which Schreiber intercepted (54th), and a hit from the crossbar by Buta (61st) were gentle signals that Eintracht could become more assertive in a changed basic order.
But there was celebration on the other side: Brünker, who secured the ball after a 50-meter shot from Schreiber and then went around Willian Pacho in the penalty area, gave Trapp no chance to defend at 1-0 (64th). And things got even worse for the men in the black jerseys: Kerber extended the lead (77th).
Published/Updated: 45 minutes ago Sebastian Stier, Berlin Published/Updated: Recommendations: 1 Roland Zorn Published/Updated: Recommendations: 7 A comment from Christopher Meltzer Published/Updated: Recommendations: 7
Eintracht struggled to somehow get out of the mess. The choice of means alone was not enough to overcome Saarbrücken and fend off their fifth game without a win in a row. Frankfurt’s winter crisis is expanding. And now, on Saturday (3:30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky), Bayern are next.
