Conference League
Toppmöller after Eintracht draw: “It’s annoying”
Would have liked a better result against Union Saint-Gilloise: Dino Toppmöller. photo
© Federico Gambarini/dpa
The 2-2 draw in the first leg of the Conference League playoffs gives Eintracht Frankfurt every chance of progressing. The coach still struggles with the result.
Dino Toppmöller couldn’t really get used to Eintracht Frankfurt’s 2-2 draw at Union Saint-Gilloise.
“It’s annoying when you play a top game for 35 minutes and normally have to be 3-0 up,” admitted the coach of the Bundesliga club after the playoff first leg in the Conference League and criticized: “I wish for one different stability. We have experienced players, but everyone is busy with themselves.”
Draw “extremely annoying”
Despite an early 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Farès Chaibi (3rd minute) and Sasa Kalajdzic (10th), the Hessians completely lost the thread after the Belgians’ goal, which was preceded by a major mistake by Ellyes Skhiri Well served with the draw at the end. “We have to be more stable in the face of setbacks, we have to be more mature. We have to learn from that,” demanded Toppmöller.
Sports director Markus Krösche also criticized the slump in the second half. “Mistakes can always happen, that’s part of football. But we still have to maintain our conviction and try to push through the game. That’s the crucial thing,” said Krösche.
Both Toppmöller and Krösche described the draw as “extremely annoying”. Nevertheless, the Hessians still hold all the trump cards in the second leg next Thursday in front of their home crowd. “The starting position is promising, especially with regard to the home advantage,” said Toppmöller.