Dino Toppmöller: I would have liked a little more control | OneFootball

Despite Hugo Ekitike’s missed penalty and Finn Porath denying Kevin Trapp a clean sheet late in the game, Eintracht Frankfurt extended their unbeaten start to the new year with a comfortable win over Holstein Kiel.

However, an incident inside Deutsche Bank Park puts a dent in the result. Two people were seriously injured and rushed to hospital, while two others suffered minor injuries after a person fell from the middle tier section to the lower tier.

Frankfurt’s coach Dino Toppmöller started his post-match interview by wishing everyone a speedy recovery. “First of all, get well soon to the injured fans. It's depressing to see that,” says the 44-year-old.

“We sent an extremely young team onto the pitch who played very confidently, properly and maturely. After the 1-0, we made life a little difficult for ourselves. In the second half, we made it 3-0 following Can’s great anticipation,” remarked the Eagles coach before reflecting on the things he’d like to avoid in the future. “The stupid goal against us annoyed me as we let Kiel get back into the game a little.

“They are a team that never gives up and we knew that we had to be wide awake until the last minute. I would have liked a little more control, but that's also a bit of complaining at a high level. All in all, it was a very decent performance. We have to keep playing confidently.”

Kiel’s coach Marcel Rapp wasn’t playing down Frankfurt’s dominance, but he singled out the timing of the third goal as the crucial factor in the game. “We played well for the first few minutes. After falling behind, we had the chance to equalize.

“We conceded the 0-3 at an unfortunate time. We were a little bit in the game throughout the whole 90 minutes, and it felt like we had the chance to get back into it. We deserved to lose because we weren't 100 percent, especially in defending the first two goals. You could see what we stand for, but we gave away these goals too easily.”