Noah Atubolu kept his first clean sheet in Eintracht Frankfurt colors as the Eagles finally ended their winless home run on Friday with a 1-0 victory over Köln. The ex-Freiburg shot-stopper conceded 16 goals in his first five games, including a 2-2 draw with his former club.
“I'm very relieved and happy that we won. It felt really good,” Atubolu said after his 100th Bundesliga appearance. “The first home win of the season. And, for me, the first home win in an Eintracht jersey. Köln had a great chance early on, but overall we were very solid.”
Marius Bülter came close to score within the first minute, but the visitors failed to keep that up for the rest of the game. Despite his costly mistakes in some of their defeats, including last week's game in Leipzig, Atubolu played well in both of their victories. The 24-year-old saved his sixth consecutive penalty-kick when Frankfurt won 3-1 in Mainz on matchday 3.
“We defended well together. Everything doesn't always have to be perfect in football. Not everything went smoothly, but if we play so compactly and maturely, we can get a lot of points. We have a lot of quality in attack and we know we're always good for goals. But the focus also has to be on defense, and Robin Koch deserves special mention there. He had a tough week, but played an incredible game. He's a leader, he led from the front and cleared everything away.”
Frankfurt’s coach Adi Hütter also praised his captain for his performance after a difficult week for both him and the club. In addition, Atubolu applauded Frankfurt fans for standing with the players and coach after the game in Leipzig.
“In Leipzig, the fans had every reason to be angry with us, but they applauded after the game. At that moment I thought to myself: ‘Wow, what a club!’ And it continued today. They pushed us for the full 90 minutes. The fans were one of the reasons why we were able to pull off this gritty victory.”
Frankfurt will face Borussia Dortmund in Topspiel action on matchday 7. They will then clash HSV in two competitions, including their cup tie at Volksparkstadion on October 27th.