Eintracht Frankfurt
·20 July 2024
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Yahoo sportsEintracht Frankfurt
·20 July 2024
As part of the ‘Eintracht in the Region’ series, the Eagles won 12-0 at TSV Heusenstamm on Saturday. Uzun hit a hat-trick while Chaibi and Matanovic each netted twice.
Head coach Dino Toppmöller fielded a strong side for the first pre-season friendly of 2024/25, including Omar Marmoush, Ansgar Knauff and new signing Krisztián Lisztes. Fellow summer arrivals Nathaniel Brown and Can Uzun were included among the substitutes but Rasmus Kristensen, who only joined the club on Friday, was not involved.
On a hot and sunny day in Hesse, Eintracht dominated their sixth-tier opponents from the start. After Marmoush and Igor Matanovic missed early opportunities, the Eagles eventually opened the scoring on 15 minutes, when Matanovic headed down Knauff’s cross for Mario Götze to fire in from close range. Tuta then hit the post with a long-range effort in the 29th minute, but Matanovic did make it 2-0 just a minute later, showing composure in the penalty area to round Heusenstamm goalkeeper Michael Confalonieri and slot in. The visitors then gave themselves a comfortable cushion before half-time with two goals in quick succession. First Tuta played in Marmoush, who lifted the ball over the keeper, before the impressive Matanovic netted his second from Timothy Chandler’s assist.
An almost completely different Frankfurt team took to the field for the second period, with only Nnamdi Collins remaining from the starting line-up. And the youngster repaid that decision by making it 5-0 just two minutes after the restart. That sparked a flurry of goals as the Eagles’ quick interplay proved too much for Heusenstamm, with Ellyes Skhiri, Fares Chaibi, Hugo Larsson and Uzun extending the lead to nine in the space of six minutes.
After a brief respite, Uzun then completed a hat-trick with two goals in as many minutes to make it 11-0. The final goal of the afternoon came courtesy of Chaibi, who netted his second with a brilliant free-kick in the 80th minute. At full time, the Eagles of course took time for the fans, before they depart for the US for the Frankfurt Americas Tour on Monday. “It was a great thing overall and I’m glad we were able to play in front of a full house,” said Toppmöller afterwards. “Heusenstamm stood up well to begin with and made it difficult for us. Then we succeeded with a lot of goals and attacking moves. On the whole it was a fair game and the boys did well.”