Frankfurt take down Ajax in a hard-fought Europa League battle | OneFootball

It's not often that match-ups like this in the later rounds of European competition haven't taken place already in the past: yet here we are in Amsterdam, where Ajax and Eintracht Frankfurt have had their first ever competitive game against each other.

After back-to-back defeats and a goal difference of -7 in the Bundesliga, Frankfurt needed to show a positive reaction in order to gain confidence and come back into their European form quickly. A shaky start into the game couldn't stop Frankfurt from becoming the 2nd german team to win a knock-out game in Europe this season (after Bayern Munich).

After just 2 minutes Ajax already hit the woodwork via a powerful Brobbey shot. That early warning however, wasn't enough for Dino Toppmöller's team to fully ‘wake them up’ yet: in the 10th minute it was Brobbey again, who scored a header after a simple cross.

Even though the pressure was very much on for Frankfurt at that moment, it was a mistake from goalkeeper Trapp, who was too passive during the cross - making it easy for Brobbey to score.

The goal was finally enough to remind the Frankfurt players of the importance of this match; a minute after conceding, Knauff almost responded with a goal to make it even again - a big save from goalkeeper Pasveer denied him.

Said Pasveer however, had to come off injured in the 24th minute and his replacement Gorter was not able to save a deflected long-shot from Larsson - Frankfurt got their goal! The teams went into the break at 1-1.

Starting into the 2nd half, both teams didn't want to take too many risks going forward and more often than not found themselves battling for possession in midfield.

In the 70th minute Knauff proved his eye for teammates and helped Skhiri to his first Europa League goal in this campaign - Frankurt took the lead!

Ajax weren't able to create too many chances for a late comeback; a freekick in the 83rd minute, followed by a short pressure period from the dutch team were not enough to secure a draw in this first ever match-up; final result: Ajax 1-2 Frankfurt.

This win ends Frankfurt's short losing streak and allows Toppmöller's side to go into the 2nd leg next Thursday with an advantage. Let's see if they can continue to write their story in European cup competition this season!