Eintracht Frankfurt Part 2

If I said I was going to this match at the Olympiastadion without a certain anxiety I would be telling a bit of a fib.  Although we had a slight buffer between us and those below us it was just that – slight.
On a positive note Schalke 04 somehow managed to snatch all three points against Paderborn and those soon to be extinct “dinosaurs” HSV equally avoided points in their relegation dogfight with Stuttgart.  However, Hannover took all three points against FC Augsburg and SC Freiburg beat some team from Bavaria – not sure what they’re called.

In the Olympiastadion there was an optimistic if somewhat tense atmosphere with an impressive 60,000 fans in attendance to fuel the waves of supports braking over the pitch.  The Ostkurve were doing their thing, singing, chanting and clapping after many of them had marched to the stadium from Theodo-Heuss-Platz starting at 11:30 in the morning!
Here are the Hertha faithful as the teams come out before the match . .

The first half was a nerve wracking affair with Frankfurt edging the possession but Hertha making the best of what they had.  They had four corners to Frankfurt’s one and six shots for just one from the visitors.  At half time both teams went in at 0:0 with much to play for but naturally the pressure was on the home side.

At half time the Frankfurt away fans felt like they weren’t getting enough attention so they held a little fireworks party all by themselves.  They really should have been a bit more organised if this was all they could muster . . . 

The best chance of the second half and probably the game fell to Salomon Kalou's who ran one on one towards Kevin Trapp in the 54th minute only to blow the chance to chip the keeper who got a good hand to it driving it clear.  The Berliner Morgenpost report that Kalou now has 823 minutes of football without a goal. This is a record such a high profile signing could do without.

Perhaps John Anthony Brooks came out looking best out of this match as he won 77 percent of his duels although a silly shoulder barging “tackle” cost him a yellow card and so he misses the last game against Hoffenheim.

After the match it was quite eerie in the stadium as the team came over to the fans to be greeted with silence.  Most of the fans stayed but there were no cheers or clapping although there were no whistles either, just silence.  I suspect everyone was thinking about what could have been and those other results shown on the big screens. There was much food for thought in that nothing is certain until next week and the last match of the season.

With for points separating the bottom six teams with only three points to play for it could hardly be tighter in the relegation battle.  Hertha should be OK but it it would have been nicer to seal it with a win.  But hey, staying up is the important thing - let’s leave it looking pretty until next year . .