Eintracht Frankfurt women beat Malmö 2:0 in the UEFA Women's Champions League second qualifying round finals on Saturday. The match ended 2:0 at the home ground, though the match data offers only one goal — L. Freigang's strike in the seventy-sixth minute. By then Frankfurt had already established control, and they simply held on to close out the result.
Frankfurt camped in the final third for most of the match, and that showed in the numbers. They registered ten shots on target against Malmö's zero, while the visitors could not find the back of the net despite eighty attacks of their own. To be fair, Malmö never looked like breaking through, but neither did they offer much of a threat going forward.
The substitutions tell part of the story too. Frankfurt brought on L. Russell in the sixty-first minute and L. Muhlhaus shortly after, while Malmö made three changes around the eighty-second minute — A. Lindstrom, C. Nevin and H. Raso all came on. The home side then made two more changes late on, bringing on M. Persson and A. Sayer as they managed the game.
And here's the thing about the statistics. Frankfurt had sixty-one per cent possession and thirteen attacks compared to Malmö's eight, but the real gap was in the final third. The visitors registered zero shots accuracy and zero shots on target — no amount of attacking moves would matter if you cannot finish. Frankfurt's ten shots on target against eight corners tells you they were always looking for a way in.
The result keeps Frankfurt's qualification hopes alive, while Malmö's campaign comes to an end. The hosts have now won three of their last five matches, including that emphatic 8:0 victory over Omonia on Thursday. Malmö, meanwhile, have drawn two and lost two in their last five — not a terrible record, but not enough to progress.