Bold but blunt Frankfurt misfire as Arsenal seize the moment

The current version of Eintracht Frankfurt has been heavily defined by last season's memorable run to the Europa League semifinals, when they were a penalty shootout away from reaching the final. The Eagles' first opponents in the new campaign of the same competition were Arsenal, who came to Germany looking to go one better themselves and win the Europa League, a trophy their coach Unai Emery has hoisted three times as coach of Sevilla.

For Frankfurt, topping last season will take some beating. But they approached this game differently to the bigger games in last season's competition. This time the gloves were off. Adi Hütter's side attacked Arsenal with bravery and belief, and chances came and went for Frankfurt, with Filip Kostic twice going close. The effervescent Andre Silva made an impact in the Arsenal box too and Bas Dost headed just over when he might have done better.

For all of Frankfurt's endeavor, the end product proved elusive. Instead, Arsenal showed Frankfurt how it was done, and Joe Willock silenced the home fans - momentarily at least - when his deflected shot looped over the helpless Kevin Trapp and crossed the line after clipping the underside of the bar. A little fortuitous, but you make your own luck in this business.

Braver but weaker

It was ultimately a frustrating night for Frankfurt, one where the scoreline dampened what had largely been a positive performance by the Bundesliga side. But this feeling may follow Frankfurt around for some time, while their new-look forward line gel. Dost and Silva are very different players to Ante Rebic, Luka Jovic and Sebastien Haller - and the team are still trying to adjust to the new 3-5-2 system.

Dost, the former Wolfsburg striker who has returned from three years in Lisbon with Sporting, emphasized in a post-match interview with DW that patience will be required as Frankfurt’s new-look attack tries to click into gear.

"Andre Silva did well tonight," Dost said. "He’s new in the country and doesn’t speak the language, but I think he was very good today. He was a little bit unlucky with the chances he had. But he’s not only a guy who scores goals, he creates them too. We need to train more together, with Goncalo Paciencia too, and it will come. But everything is new, it’s not that easy."

And does he feel any pressure to fill the void left by Rebic, Jovic and Haller? "Actually, no. I have nothing to do with what happened here in the past. I can only do my job and I’ll do that in the best way that I can. I can see that I’m developing as a player, and I can hopefully show my best for this club."

Undeterred by Arsenal's quality, Frankfurt unleashed attack after attack, safe in the knowledge that the the North Londoners' defense can be forced into an error, sometimes under only the merest of duress. The Eagles' best two chances after the break fell to Silva, but the new man on loan from AC Milan spurned both of them; first blazing over with his weaker foot, then sending a far too casual effort wide after a blistering Frankfurt attack.

Frankfurt seem to have more confidence despite having less quality, at least in attack. Spurred on by raucous home support that shouted louder the worse the team did, Frankfurt pushed for a goal their efforts deserved. It was testament to the mentality Hütter has instilled at the club since succeeding Niko Kovac as coach. His desire to push his team, and their opponents, to their limit is impressive and one not limited by a potential drop of quality.

Dominik Kohr's red card, a second yellow with ten minutes to play, exposed Frankfurt - and Arsenal killed them off in ruthless fashion. The impressive 18-year-old Bukayo Saka bent in a fine strike before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang added a third late on, producing a scoreline that flattered the visitors

"The first 15 minutes of the second half we were really good - this is when we needed to score. We didn’t do that," Dost told DW. "The 3-0 is not really the right score for this game, but after the red card they had the space to hurt us."

Having cashed in on their entire attacking trio, the pressure is on Frankfurt to continue to deliver on the field and this was a brutal reminder of the talent that has been allowed to depart the club recently. That means Dost, Silva and Paciencia must develop an understanding and be the outlet for this team to convert their endeavor into goals. In that respect, Arsenal showed them how it was done on Thursday night.