Eintracht Frankfurt – FK Riga Football School 1:0 (0:0)
The favorite Eintracht Frankfurt has against FK in their own stadium Riga Futbola Skola secured a win and three points in the preliminary round of the Europa League. Until the final stages, however, it looked as if there could be a surprise. The guests from Riga were able to defend Frankfurt’s attacks well for a long time and also had good chances themselves. In the 79th minute it was Hugo Larsson who made the final score 1-0 and redeemed Eintracht players and fans.
Eintracht coach Dino Toppmöller had warned his team before the encounter. Riga has “very robust defenders, very big defenders,” he said. Initially, the Frankfurters were unable to overcome Riga’s well-positioned defense and hardly had any chances to score in the first half. The guests had their first chance through Adam Markhiyev, whose shot from a tight angle just missed the goal (15th). In return, Omar Marmoush was denied by Riga keeper Fabrice Ondoa in a one-on-one.
Toppmöller made four changes compared to the 1-2 loss at Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the Bundesliga. Among other things, young star Can Uzun made his starting eleven debut. But neither the lineup of 18-year-old Uzun, who moved from second division club 1. FC Nürnberg to Hessen in the summer, nor the other changes had the desired positive effect.
More pressure in the second half
For the second half, Toppmüller brought on the eventual goalscorer Larsson for Mo Dahoud. Frankfurt now played much more powerfully. Tuta made it 1-0, but his goal didn’t count due to an offside position (48′). Marmoush and Niels Nkounkou also aimed just past the visitors’ goal (52nd/53rd). On the left side, Nkounkou made a mistake trying to clear the ball, leaving Roberts Savalnieks alone in front of Eintracht goalkeeper Kevin Trapp. However, the 34-year-old parried the shot strongly (58th).
After a foul on Marmoush, the Dutch referee Allard Lindhout initially awarded a penalty for the hosts. After checking the video images, the referee withdrew the penalty because the foul occurred outside the penalty area. In the final phase, Larsson scored to make it 1-0. In direct response, Frankfurt were lucky when Markhiyev hit the crossbar with his shot.
Thanks to the win, Eintracht Frankfurt is currently in third place in the Europa League table with 7 points from three games.
The favorite Eintracht Frankfurt has against FK in their own stadium Riga Futbola Skola secured a win and three points in the preliminary round of the Europa League. Until the final stages, however, it looked as if there could be a surprise. The guests from Riga were able to defend Frankfurt’s attacks well for a long time and also had good chances themselves. In the 79th minute it was Hugo Larsson who made the final score 1-0 and redeemed Eintracht players and fans.
Eintracht coach Dino Toppmöller had warned his team before the encounter. Riga has “very robust defenders, very big defenders,” he said. Initially, the Frankfurters were unable to overcome Riga’s well-positioned defense and hardly had any chances to score in the first half. The guests had their first chance through Adam Markhiyev, whose shot from a tight angle just missed the goal (15th). In return, Omar Marmoush was denied by Riga keeper Fabrice Ondoa in a one-on-one.
