His solo effort brought points and peace.
Without Ritsu Doan’s (27th) wonder goal in the 1-0 win against Mainz, the international break at Eintracht Frankfurt would have been truly turbulent. The reason is, Hessians almost scored a few goals against the basement boys Mainz and Heidenheim (1:1) and got two points.
But Doan’s stroke of genius in the 80th minute, when he scored two 05s and then scored, significantly eased Eintracht’s situation. “An extraordinary individual performance. He is very valuable for us in attack and defense,” praised Dino Toppmöller (44), rightly.
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The coach knows that he is partly to blame for the fact that Doan has not scored since the second matchday (two goals in a 3-1 win at Hoffenheim). Due to the high number of goals conceded, he had no choice but to order his top newcomer (22m from Freiburg) to the right side of the five-man chain. Despite having a huge workload (having made 18 starts for Eintracht and Japan), he does important defensive work without complaint. The way forward is much more advanced. There was also bad luck (hitting the crossbar against Dortmund).
“We often talk about his role. Against Mainz, he again played further forward and closer to the opponent’s goal,” explained Toppi and clearly announced: “That is the idea now, because he has the individual qualities to keep the opponent on their toes.”
The coach has already indicated that Doan will be Frankfurt’s most important offensive star at the end of the year (5 league games, 2 in the Champions League). And again on the right wing. He already had the ball against Mainz in his favorite position.
Due to Can Uzun’s injury (20/will be out until December), Doan is currently perhaps the only Eintracht star who can single-handedly decide a close game like the one against Mainz through his individual class and technique. A quality that has become rare in Frankfurt after the departures of Ekitiké and Marmoush.
At Freiburg, Doan achieved this feat last season. And that’s in an attack that doesn’t even have close to top scorers like Jonathan Burkardt (25) in its lineup.
