“We defended wonderfully well” | OneFootball

Dino Toppmöller, Kevin Trapp and Ansgar Knauff were full of praise for Eintracht’s defensive display in the 1-0 win in Leipzig.

Head coach Dino Toppmöller: “We had to defend a lot and the team did so with heart. When they did get through, we had an outstanding goalkeeper in Trappo and a bit of good fortune to get the win away from home. The goal came from a great attack. Ansgar Knauff struck the ball superbly, but for my liking we had far too little possession and weren’t able to relieve the pressure often enough – but that was partly due to the quality of our opponents. We’ll take the win, but we also have to put it into perspective. We didn’t know exactly where Donny van de Beek and Sasa Kalajdzic were at [in terms of fitness]. Both will help us in the coming weeks, especially in games where we have more of the ball. Both have really thrown themselves into it.”

Kevin Trapp: “It was a beautiful goal. That’s exactly how we practiced it during the week. After that, we defended wonderfully well. We had to put a lot of effort in against an offensively strong opponent with a great deal of quality. Our concentration levels on the pitch and our intensity in the duels were spot-on. We need that for our game. But if you leave the pitch as winners, you’ve certainly done something right.”

Ansgar Knauff: “It was a great performance from everybody. We planned to play at full throttle for 90 minutes. We knew from the outset it would be difficult against these opponents, but we did well and defended with everything we had. Kevin Trapp had a very good performance and did well to keep the balls out. That’s how we got the three points.”