Eintracht Frankfurt celebrated a lackluster win against Mainz 05. The Hessians struggled for a long time, Eintracht’s goal was symptomatic of the entire game.
Eintracht Frankfurt won the home game on Friday evening against 1. FSV Mainz 05 1-0 (0-0). In an uneventful game, it was Mario Götze (72nd) who scored the goal of the day for the Hessians. It was the last home game for Eintracht President Peter Fischer, who said goodbye before the game after 24 years in office.
Eintracht coach Dino Toppmöller sent his team unchanged into the game against Mainz. Africa Cup returnees Ellyes Skhiri and Fares Chaibi will initially take a seat on the bench, new signing Jean-Matteo Bahoya is not yet in the squad.
Eintracht is struggling
Toppmöller said before the game that they wanted to convert the anger from the late draw against Darmstadt 98 into energy. However, his team was not particularly energetic in the first half. Mainz defended with a five-man defense chain and four men in front of them in midfield; Eintracht had a hard time creating chances against the low-lying FSV.
After six minutes, Ansgar Knauff broke through on the left side, but couldn’t decide between a shot and a cross. A header from Ebimbe after a Larsson cross from the right went a good meter past the Mainz goal (27th). Again the hard-working Knauff muddled through in the penalty area, but missed his shot, which went past the left (35th).
Widmer with the chance for Mainz
The Hessians couldn’t think of much between these scenes; Eintracht seemed sluggish, unimaginative and unfocused. Mainz resorted to occasional counterattacks, which, however, hardly led to any significant chances. A header from Barreiro after a throw-in went wide to the right of the goal (28′). Rheinhessen’s best chance fell to Silvan Widmer, who received a cross from the left at the near post, but whose shot from close range was blocked by Tuta. And so it was a 0-0 of the worse kind at halftime.
For the second half, Toppmöller brought on Chaibi for the pale Donny van de Beek, but Eintracht initially appeared extremely unstable. Lots of bad passes, little that was compelling, Niels Nkounkou only had the Hessians’ first chance with a long-range shot in the 65th minute.
Idol by head
Shortly afterwards the goal came, thanks to chance. A deflected shot from Willian Pacho from the backcourt accidentally landed at Götze in the penalty area, who was just offside. FSV keeper Robin Zentner was able to high-five Götze’s finish, but Götze then headed in to take the lead (73′).
A goal that couldn’t have been better suited to this uneventful and low-level game. Because the Mainz team couldn’t think of an answer, it was a difficult victory for Eintracht. A game that will certainly not be remembered for its result or even the playful performance, but for the emotional words of the outgoing President Fischer before the start of the game.
Further information
Eintracht Frankfurt – 1. FSV Mainz 05 1:0 (0:0)
Frankfurt: Trapp – Tuta, Koch, Pacho – Dina Ebimbe (77. Skhiri), Larsson, Götze (81. Rode), Nkounkou (90.+3 Max) – Knauff (90.+3 Buta), van de Beek (46. Chaibi) – Kalajdzic
Mainz: Zentner – van den Berg, Kohr (82nd Papela), Caci (82nd Leitsch) – Widmer (87th da Costa), Krauß, Mwene – Richter (76th Ajorque), Barreiro – Onisiwo, Burkardt
Tor: 1-0 Götze (73.)
yellow cards: Pacho, Nkounkou / Widmer
referee: Felix Zwayer (Berlin)
Viewers: 58,000 (sold out)
End of further information