The first praise went to the shooter. “A beautiful goal,” said Kevin Trapp. “Exactly the way we trained.” And a smile crossed his face. At the end of his interview marathon, the Frankfurt goalkeeper took plenty of time to talk in the mixed zone of the Leipzig Arena about Ansgar Knauff’s winning goal as well as what comes naturally to him: making good saves and thereby helping the team to be profitable support.
Finally the first away win at RB Leipzig. With the narrowest of all results – 1-0 – Eintracht, who are in sixth place in the table, have created a good starting position for further sporting progress in the Bundesliga with a mixture of skill, hard work and luck.
Trapp deserves a special share in this, because whenever Loïs Openda took measurements: Trapp kept what had to be kept. The stormy Belgian almost despaired in this private duel between the two outstanding professionals on a frosty cold afternoon in first-class Leipzig surroundings. “The team defended passionately,” said Eintracht coach Dino Toppmöller in his analysis. “And if something came through, we had an outstanding goalkeeper in Trappo and also the bit of luck to win.”
With increased self-confidence
Trapp enjoyed the results of the successful business trip. “It’s good to start the new year with this great feeling,” he said. “We took the feeling we developed against Gladbach with us and are looking forward to a special game in Darmstadt.” The task in the Hessenderby next Saturday (3.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky) at the Böllenfalltor Eintracht, led by Trapp, can approach the “Liliens”, who are still convinced of a first-class future, with increased self-confidence.
Keyword self-confidence: Trapp wasn’t the only one who carried his usual consistent form seamlessly from the old year into the new year. Niels Nkounkou has also not forgotten how to be available to Eintracht as an assistant on duty. In that last-second win against Mönchengladbach shortly before Christmas, the Frenchman was the man who hit the two crucial preparatory crosses.
A quality that has now also flashed in Leipzig. Coach Toppmöller enthusiastically spoke of a “picture-perfect goal”. Knauff only had to hold his foot in the seventh minute. Nkounkou’s preparatory work, an opening pass from the left to the right post, was almost exemplary. “And then Ansgar simply kicks the ball outstandingly.”
Belated gift: Three days after his 22nd birthday, Ansgar Knauff scores the winning goal to make it 1-0. : Image: Imago
Outstanding – it was the word that was mentioned most often after Eintracht’s surprising coup. It wasn’t just the Frankfurt protagonists who said it. The people of Leipzig also paid respect to Trapp’s parades. Both player Christoph Baumgartner and coach Marco Rose proved to be fair sportsmen and said: “Trappo is one of the best goalkeepers in the league.”
Trapp has long since earned the reputation of being one of the veterans of Eintracht. All in all, Trapp is now entering his tenth season in Frankfurt. And that won’t be the end for a long time. His written contract agreement runs until mid-2026.
Whether Donny van de Beek and Sasa Kalajdzic also want a long-term relationship is still unclear. The first step for the recently signed duo is to gain a foothold in Frankfurt. Both offensive players who were most recently involved in the English Premier League are on loan for the time being.
“Both threw themselves into it”
They used the cold weather in Leipzig to make their first statement about their new employer. “We didn’t know exactly where both of them stood,” said their new boss Toppmöller. He was very satisfied after the first hour of work.
Toppmöller is certain: “Both will help us in the next few weeks. Especially in games where we have more of the ball.” For the Eintracht coach there was no question: “Both of them threw themselves into it against Leipzig.
The fact that the Austrian Kalajdzic had to quit his stormy service as a so-called “target player” in the middle of the second half was also due to a thigh problem. Until he was replaced, “I tried to resist as long as I could. You can tell I haven’t played in a while. But I think it was fine.”
A comment from Peter Penders Published/Updated: Recommendations: 3 A comment from Jörg Daniels Published/Updated: Recommendations: 6 Ralf Weitbrecht, Leipzig Published/Updated: Recommendations: 2
It was the collective that worked. “It wasn’t me alone today,” said Trapp. It was also true in the defense, and it was pleasing to see that Tuta once again showed one of his good games and prevented possible disaster with one or two actions.
Trapp sees the fact that Kalajdzic, a two-meter man, is now available as a further passing option. “Sasa is very tall and very precise. He can hold the ball very well. For me as a goalkeeper, this creates new variability because I can now play long balls at him.” Trapp also saw it like Toppmöller: “Donny and Sasa fit in very well. The two are good characters. They did wonderfully and are a great reinforcement for us.”
Trapp has been a great source of support for Eintracht for a long time.