AWhen the party started with loud pop music, Markus Krösche had problems making himself heard in the catacombs of the arena. Eintracht’s sports director has never been one of the loudspeakers in the league, because when he goes into analysis after games, he speaks quietly. But the words that the Frankfurt manager had to say after the spectacle against Bayern on this seemingly unbelievable Saturday were clearly audible.
After the furious 5-1 win against the champions, Krösche spoke of a “deserved victory” – and that was definitely a success. Against desolate Bayern, the Frankfurt team, who showed their full potential, were superior to the champions in all respects. Five goals were the reward for a performance like you see against Bayern every year. And that was surprising, because wasn’t it Eintracht who had been embarrassingly eliminated in the DFB Cup by third division club 1. FC Saarbrücken three days earlier? Eintracht coach Dino Toppmöller, later asked about the radical increase in performance within a few days, singled out double goalscorer Eric Junior Dina Ebimbe to explain “what you can’t always explain. This is a young lad. It is subject to fluctuations. Today here was different than in Saarbrücken, a completely different game. For example, we had a lot more space in front of the chain.”
So how could this happen? How was this transformation possible? After the embarrassing exit from the cup, even the boldest optimists had not expected such a turnaround. Not a joke, but the truth: Eintracht, in which Mario Götze formed the duo in front of the defense alongside the highly talented Hugo Larsson, played themselves into a frenzy against Bayern, scoring goal after goal and winning 3-1 the half-time break. What a first part of the game. The majority of the 58,000 spectators in the sold-out Frankfurt Arena were thrilled because it was Dino Toppmöller’s team that put the champions in fear right from the start.
Although Ansgar Knauff was unlucky after 32 seconds when his shot hit the side netting, he and his colleagues were able to celebrate with joy a short time later. Fares Chaibi curled the ball onto the crossbar, and because Omar Marmoush quickly grasped the moment and courageously sprinted towards the rebound, the Egyptian’s low shot made it 1-0. The lead against the uninspired Bayern, who missed pretty much everything, was deserved.
Almost nothing to see from FC Bayern
On this miraculous football afternoon, everything seemed to be a success from Frankfurt’s point of view, because the busy Marmoush, for example, was faster than his pursuer Joshua Kimmich (17th) during one of his committed storm runs with the ball. The stars of the south – they didn’t want to sparkle at all. There was next to no sign of the strangely lethargic Bavarians. It took until the 25th minute before the Munich team appeared in front of the Frankfurt goal for the first time. However, Harry Kane, the benchmark in the Bundesliga with 18 goals after twelve games so far, missed the mark. And when fellow striker Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting tried it, it didn’t pose any problems for Eintracht keeper Kevin Trapp (29′).