Conference League
Eintracht Frankfurt celebrates goal festival against HJK Helsinki
Eintracht clearly prevailed against HJK Helsinki. photo
© Arne Dedert/dpa
Eintracht Frankfurt is in a goal-scoring mood in the Conference League game against HJK Helsinki. With a 6-0 win, the Hessians took a huge step towards the next round.
Dina Ebimbe (12th minute/hand penalty), Robin Koch (27th), Omar Marmoush (31st) and Tuta (45th + 3) scored for the happy Hessians before the break. After the restart, the scoring continued: Ellyes Skhiri (55th) and Ebimbe again (89th) increased the score to 6-0.
The 2022 Europa League winner continued its upward trend with its third competitive win in a row. There are still European Cup games in Helsinki (9/11), at PAOK Saloniki (30/11) and against FC Aberdeen (14/12) until Advent. In Group G, the Frankfurters are in second place behind the Greeks. Eintracht faces Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga on Sunday with a completely different caliber.
Eintracht dominated from the start
The 33-time Finnish champion, who was only partially competitive, had little to offer and was lucky not to go into halftime with more than four goals conceded. At 1-0, the Hessians benefited from a video decision in which a handball by Jukka Raitala was recognized. The Frenchman Ebimbe safely converted the penalty.
Captain and defense chief Koch increased the score to 2-0 after a corner from Fares Chaibi. It wasn’t quite so easy for Marmoush, who shot at an opponent twice in the penalty area and only scored with the outside of his foot on the third attempt to make it 3-0. It was the sixth goal across all competitions for the successor to Randal Kolo Muani, who moved to Paris. Shortly before the break, Tuta headed the score 4-0, Chaibi was once again the provider.
Trapp replacement Grahl was hardly required
“We can be satisfied with a first half with four goals and dominance,” said Eintracht sports director Timmo Hardung on the TV channel RTL+. Jens Grahl, who was standing in for the suspended national goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, had hardly anything to do against the harmless Finns – not even in the second half. Most of the time everything took place in front of the opponent’s goal. In the 50th minute, Ansgar Knauff hit the crossbar. Five minutes later Ellyes Skhiri made it 5-0. After that, the Frankfurt team took things a little easier before Ebimbe even added the sixth goal shortly before the end.