Wahi Scores - Eintracht draw with Aston Villa

Eintracht Frankfurt played their first proper pre-season friendly against Aston Villa in Louisville, Kentucky yesterday evening. The match ended in a 2-2 draw.

First of all, I was really pleased to see both teams line up most of their available key players, so the game was actually worth watching, despite starting at 1 AM in Germany.

Eintracht started in a 4-2-3-1 with Kevin Trapp in goal, Nkounkou, Amenda, Koch and Kristensen as the back four and Larsson, Chaibi and Aaronson as the midfield trio. Uzun (left) and Knauff (right) started on the wing, with Wahi as our lone striker. The back four could be something we’ll see more often next season.

First half

Eintracht Frankfurt started with a high press from the beginning of the match. During the first few minutes, Aston Villa managed to play through our press too easily with vertical passes through the center or directly behind Eintracht’s defense. This was also how Eintracht conceded their first goal by Ollie Watkins in the 12th minute.

However, Eintracht continued to press aggressively high up the pitch. After conceding the first, their pressing became more effective – Eintracht started winning many balls high up the pitch. In the 20th minute, it was Robin Koch who won the ball close to the opponent’s box, quickly finding Wahi, who scored his first goal in an Eintracht shirt (finally). Now pressing more effectively and recovering the ball quickly, Eintracht dominated most of the possession until half-time, despite occasionally dropping into a low block.

Can Uzun, who was already one of the best players in our previous friendly against FSV Frankfurt, again appeared very active. The Turkish youngster looked very energetic with and without the ball, often cutting inside from the left to either shoot or cross the ball to the far post. In his new role on the left, he looks like one to watch for the upcoming matches.

Second Half

For the second half, Toppmöller brought on Batshuayi, Bahoya, Dills, Højlund, Collins, and Grahl. Aston Villa got off to a quick start to the second half, scoring in the 47th minute. Nkounkou, who previously won all of his defensive duels, unfortunately was beaten by Donyell Malen, who played a sharp low cross to Morgan Rogers. The Englishman slotted it past Jens Grahl from close range. After their goal, Villa didn’t offer much offensively, mostly dropping into their own half. Eintracht had most of the ball, but didn’t manage to create many chances. In the 82nd minute, however, 16-year-old Ebu Bekir Is, who came on around 20 minutes earlier, dared to shoot from outside the box – and scored! The teenager looked really promising in possession, even if he still gave the ball away too easily on some occasions (understandably). I could imagine him making his Bundesliga debut this season.

Takeaway

Considering how many tough training sessions this team had to endure in the past few days, the intensity and energy they showed on the pitch were really impressive. Toppmöller was also very active on the sideline, constantly coaching his players, especially the younger ones. His new setup, using a back four, looked promising – it could get even more out of his players.

For Elye Wahi, this match could be a turning point – we definitely hope so.

One other thing I noticed while watching was that I started to like our away kit more than I expected initially.