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1 month ago
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Randal Kolo Muani was lucky to be on the field. The Tottenham striker had suffered a moment of indescribable panic when the front right tyre on his Ferrari blew out on the motorway on Tuesday as he drove to Stansted airport for the team flight to Frankfurt.
The car was a write-off but Kolo Muani walked away from it. He had to take a later flight to make this Champions League game and he was plainly determined to make his mark on it.
Kolo Muani was once a hero to the Eintracht fans, scoring prolifically for them in the 2022-23 season. They were not happy to see him back and booed his every touch. The best one was that with which he broke the deadlock just after half-time to set Spurs fair for another win in this competition and a fast track to the last 16.
Thomas Frank left his domestic troubles in London. The under-fire manager can reflect with pride at his team’s performances in Europe – even if Frankfurt were dismally off-colour. They are in crisis after a run of poor form saw them sack their manager, Dino Toppmöller. Things have not improved under the interim Dennis Schmitt. Eintracht already knew they had no chance of qualifying for the playoff round. They played like it. The difference in physical terms between the teams was stark.
Kolo Muani’s goal was a well-taken volley; the loanee’s only other goals for Spurs were the two that he scored against his parent club Paris Saint-Germain. The result never felt in doubt. Spurs were far superior and Dominic Solanke, made sure of it with a low finish after coming on as a substitute.
Frank has fought fires on so many fronts and he went into battle with only 11 established outfield players. It was difficult to argue the case for Spurs having made advances on the medical side as nine players were out injured. A further clutch were ineligible in Europe; a consequence of uneven recruitment.
There was snowfall in the countdown to kick-off, the temperature around freezing and the Eintracht diehards were keen to turn up the volume. What a sight it was 25 minutes before we got under way to see the entire stand behind one of the goals bounce up and down as one.
Spurs cut through it all the outset and their positive start would have been even better had Xavi Simons not had an early goal ruled out for an offside in the buildup against Destiny Udogie. It was a surge and a cross from Kolo Muani and, when the goalkeeper, Kauã Santos, parried weakly, Simons tapped home.
Eintracht had conceded three goals in each of their previous five matches and it was easy to see why. They were so lax, errors scarring their game. There was a weakness about them in the duels. Spurs had an open invitation to play.
Frank’s team pressed hard onto the front foot throughout the first period and the frustration was that they were not at least two goals up by the interval. That said, the Eintracht midfielder, Hugo Larsson, did run through in the 45th minute to rattle the crossbar. It was an isolated burst.
Frank had left Solanke on the bench at the outset, surely with one eye on Sunday’s home league game against Manchester City. He stuck with his 3-4-2-1 system, asking the fit-again João Palhinha to play at right centre-half. Djed Spence and Udogie pushed high from the wing-back positions, sometimes into inside forward positions while Simons was dangerous with his dribbles.
Palhinha worked Santos with a header on 12 minutes and Spurs turned the screw, having a flurry of chances not long afterwards.
There was a burst of them when Kolo Muani crossed for Udogie, who failed to connect with the header in front of goal. It was a bad miss. Wilson Odobert hit the post from outside the area and there was also the moment when Simons nipped onto a risky Santos pass only to want too many touches.
The boos rang out whenever Kolo Muani touched the ball. The fans who once adored him were not happy to see him.
Spurs had extensively advertised the breakthrough and it felt as though the identity of the scorer was written in the stars. It was a tidy finish from Kolo Muani after Cristian Romero had nodded a Simons cross over to him from beyond the far post. It was incredible to see how much time and space Romero had. Or maybe not considering the overall sweep of the Eintracht performance. Kolo Muani sank to his knees and pointed his index fingers skywards. The home fans booed some more.
Kevin Danso had hurt himself in the 39th minute in a collision with Romero and Spurs’s left centre-half looked as though he might struggle to continue. He dug deep, partly because the reinforcements on the bench were so callow. It was from Danso’s cross that Kolo Muani almost headed a second.
Moments earlier, Aurélio Buta could not direct a volley at the other end when unmarked; he had to finish from Ellyes Skhiri’s ball in. It was Spurs who were the likelier scorers of the next goal and Santos needed to be sharp to keep out a low Pape Sarr shot.
Solanke would be played in by a terrible back header by another substitute, Mahmoud Dahoud. The shot into the far corner was nerveless.
