Dino Toppmöller: “We fought against a lot of adversity”

Eintracht Frankfurt’s coach was delighted with his team’s first Bundesliga win in five matches.

After a long delay in kickoff and a troubling second-half, Eintracht Frankfurt returned to winning ways in Bundesliga with a 3-1 victory in Bochum. 19-year-old Frenchman Jean-Mattéo Bahoya starred with a goal on the day he took the throne as Bundesliga’s fastest player. Meanwhile, Kauã Santos, 21, made five crucial saves.

Dino Toppmöller shared his excitement about the lively game after full-time. “What a football match! It was a really good game with high intensity,” said the man who orchestrated the Eagles’ qualification to the Europa League quarter-final. “We were determined to show that we can not only play good football, but also hold our own and fight back.

“We didn’t have a good start to the game. Bochum did what we expected. They played very actively and forced second balls. We got our foot in the game with the first goal. We fought against a lot of adversity. In the end, it was a deserved win against a very solid VfL Bochum.”

According to Opta, this is the first time Frankfurt scored 54 Bundesliga goals after the first 26 rounds in a season since 1981/82 (64). Toppmöller will be hoping for good news regarding Skhiri’s medical report after he was off injured late in the game. Hugo Larsson, who was subbed off at half-time, would also require an MRI scan to reveal the extent of his adductor problems.