Martin Hinteregger shoots Eintracht Frankfurt against Betis Sevilla in the quarter-finals of the Europa League

Eintracht Frankfurt went into the second leg against Betis Sevilla with a 2-1 lead from the first leg. Spain, fifth in the table, has played well in La Liga and the Europa League so far and offered the Hessians a tough fight right from the start.

It took a good quarter of an hour before Frankfurt was able to set the first exclamation mark. After a counterattack, Djibril Sow served Ansgar Knauff with a great through ball, which only hit the crossbar (15′). From that moment, the home side took control of the game.

Even though Eintracht put a lot of pressure on Betis before the break, coach Oliver Glasner’s team didn’t manage to create any compelling chances to score and it was 0-0 at the break.

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The second half started again with a good phase of the guests from Seville. A short time later, however, aluminum bad luck again for Frankfurt. The strong-playing Filip Kostić circled a free kick from the right winger on goal, which touched down on the fifth and then hit the crossbar (63′).

At the other end, substitute Juanmi tested Frankfurt’s Kevin Trapp with a header, but the goalkeeper showed his class and kept his goal clean for the time being (65′).

For the final phase, Betis then attacked with his joker Borja Iglesias and the Spaniard should cause a sensation. When Eintracht was mentally in the quarter-finals in the 90th minute, the otherwise strong defense slipped up on the left wing and made it possible for Nabil Fekir to cross in the middle. That same Iglesias was there and pushed in to make it 1-0 for Betis (90th), which meant extra time.

Both teams watched each other during extra time, neither team wanted to risk a mistake. The Hessians were visibly shocked by the late goal from the Spaniards, especially in the first half. Betis also didn’t invest too much in the game, but almost went for the second trick through Iglesias.

After a solo from Juanmi and his finish, the deflected ball landed at the far post right at Iglesias. But this time he was unlucky too, his header bounced off the crossbar and onto the field (110′).

When the penalty shootout was imminent, referee Michael Oliver gave Eintracht another free kick from the left winger in the 120th minute. Filip Kostić executed and his cross found Martin Hinteregger’s head, who somehow put the ball past keeper Rui Silva and into the net.

A true football thriller with the deserved advancement for Eintracht Frankfurt.

The votes for the game:

Oliver Glasner (Eintracht Frankfurt coach): “In the 119th minute I was already thinking about the penalty shoot-out. What happened after that was amazing, you had the feeling that the whole stadium wanted to celebrate on the pitch! We actually had the game under control beforehand, but in the end we lost our strength a bit.”

Manuel Pellegrini (Real Betis Trainer): “Of course it’s very emotional when you score the goal yourself in the last minute of regular time and then concede the goal in the last minute. But that’s football and that’s why it’s the most popular sport in the world. Me I’m proud of the team, we didn’t miss out today, but unfortunately earlier in the first leg.”

Kevin Trapp (Eintracht Frankfurt): “The Europa League has become a specialty for us. You could feel that again in the stadium today. The 25,000 fans felt like 50,000! We showed that we can challenge the big teams. We are in the Europa League unbeaten this season so why shouldn’t we make it to the final?”

The tweet about the game:

Eintracht Frankfurt celebrates the last-minute goal that gives the Hessians progress! Somewhere in the middle goalscorer Martin Hinteregger, who can hardly resist the joyful onslaught of his teammates!

That caught the eye: Filip Kostić

As is so often the case, Filip Kostić was the linchpin of Eintracht’s game. The winger was involved in numerous offensive actions, but also worked very well in defence, hitting the crucial free-kick that enabled Hinteregger’s header.