Glasner earns first Frankfurt win as Eintracht prevail in Belgium
Oliver Glanser has finally his first win as Eintracht Frankfurt trainer courtesy of a late penalty that allowed Eintracht Frankfurt to defeat Royal Antwerp on Thursday evening.
Portuguese striker Gonçalo Paciência is the unlikely hero with his first goal for the SGE in some 20 months.
Against a lineup that featured many notable games such as former Werder Bremen professional Johannes Eggestein, one-time Köln midfielder Birger Virstraete, and ex-Belgium star Radja Nainggolan, Eintracht trainer Oliver Glasner made three changes to the XI that began against Köln over the weekend. Adjin Hrustic came on for Jens Petter Hauge. Erik Durm and Evan N'dicka being unavailable because of injury meant that Makoto Hasebe and Almamy Touré started.
Portuguese striker Gonçalo Paciência is the unlikely hero with his first goal for the SGE in some 20 months.
What looked like a 3-5-2 with Timothy Chandler back on the right and Hrustic working as a ten got off to a decent start. There we're several scoring chances for the German guests early on. Martin Hinteregger came closest with a good set-piece strike in the third. A little later, Hinteregger hit Chandler with a long diagonal. The American international tapped across the danger area for Sam Lammers, but the Dutchman whiffed on the shot.
Chandler and Rafael Santos Borré engineered a few more half chances on the Frankfurt during the first half. In multiple instances, the clear objective seemed to be getting the ball back to an in-crashing Filip Kostic. Some tight offside decisions and a some poor touches nevertheless preclude this from leading to anything. Hosts Antwerp got some pretty plays off too, but there was nothing of note to trouble Frankfurt keeper Kevin Trapp.
Both coaches made changes in an effort to shake their teams up at the half. Glasner replaced Hrustic with Daichi Kamada while Antwerp head-coach Brian Priske yanked Eggestein. Matters certainly got intense both on the pitch and in the stands. Early play had to be suspended after a firecracker exploded behind the SGE goal and keeper Trapp had to be treated.
The SGE and R. Antwerp ultras had been involved in scuffles all week, with reports of arrests being reported in the Belgian media. Minor incidents on the pitch ensured many breakages in plays. The two sides traded chances once higher-level football resumed after the hour mark. Strikers Lammers and Antwerp's Victor Fischer both missed the ball on promising close-range opportunities.
Just when it appeared as if the match would almost surely end in Eintracht's seventh consecutive draw on the trot, two of Glasner's additional substitutes were involved in the late goal that would deliver the victory. After a bad turnover, Jesper Lindstrøm was able to cut in to the right side of the penalty area and drew a penalty in the 89th. Portuguese striker Gonçalo Paciencia, barely on the pitch for three minutes, converted from the spot.
The result puts Eintracht in second place in their Europa League group on four points. Olympiacos top group Group D with maximum points from two fixtures.