Two neo Indomitable Lions, Ekitiké and Ebimbe, gave Eintracht Frankfurt a decent lead against Viktoria Plzeň. The match counts for the first group day of the UEFA Europa League.
German manager Dino Toppmöller made three changes to Saturday’s Frankfurt team. Niels Nkounkou, recovered, as well as Mo Dahoud and Igor Matanovic made their competitive debut. Hugo Larsson, Farès Chaibi and Robin Koch, injured, gave up their place. Mario Götze, who continues to recover from a bad cold, was not selected, allowing Tuta to wear the captain’s armband.
Ekitiké opens the scoring for Eintracht Frankfurt
In a feverish atmosphere in Frankfurt, the Eagles, in great shape, got off to a flying start. Matanovic saw his first shot blocked by Sampson Dweh. He will recover the return which will be blocked by goalkeeper Martin Jedlicka after good work from Kristensen. Dahoud then went very close to the target while Toppmöller’s players continued to put on the pressure. But Plzeň held on until seven minutes before the break.
Ekitiké will be involved in an aerial collision with Svetozar Markovic without much harm. Moments later, he combined for a one-two with Kristensen before firing into the bottom left corner. He will score his first goal in the Europa League for Eintracht. The Eagles’ lead lasted just three minutes, however, as Sulc’s precise strike from the edge of the penalty spot beat Kauã Santos and lodged in the top corner.
One last stop
The two teams had little to complain about at the start of the second half, but the Eagles quickly regained the advantage thanks to one of their second-half substitutes. Dina Ebimbe, who had replaced Ansgar Knauff 108 seconds earlier, took a nice pass from Ekitiké before rushing into the area and deceiving Jedlicka. Five minutes later, Kristensen recovered a poorly cleared ball and increased the Eagles’ advantage midway through the second period.
The risk of Plzeň returning to the game seemed low at this stage. And the Entracht coach took the opportunity to spin. But Vaclav Jemelka’s cross from the left was volleyed home by Adu to give the visitors hope of an improbable comeback. This goal galvanized the Czech team and, with less than two minutes remaining in added time in the second half, the Eagles were unable to break away. Jemelka scored with a dagger to make the score 3-3.
Editorial Camfoot
