Eintracht Frankfurt's penalty guru Noah Atubolu primed to face parent club Freiburg
Can Uzun and Jonathan Burkardt were both on target in Eintracht Frankfurt’s 3-1 victory at Mainz, but goalkeeper Noah Atubolu also had a major say in the outcome of Saturday’s Rhine-Main derby.
Leading 1-0 thanks to Uzun’s early effort, Frankfurt handed their opponents a golden opportunity to get back on level terms late in the first half when Raphael Onyedika brought down Sheraldo Becker in the penalty area - but Freiburg loanee Atubolu dived the right way to keep out Nadiem Amiri’s spot-kick and preserve Eintracht’s advantage.
Nearly a year on from becoming the first goalkeeper in Bundesliga history to save five penalties in a row, Atubolu has now extended that record-breaking tally to six consecutive spot-kicks - all in front of watching Germany head coach Jürgen Klopp.
Only three players - Werder Bremen’s Marvin Ducksch, RB Leipzig’s Loïs Openda and Julian Weigl of Borussia Mönchengladbach - have managed to convert a Bundesliga penalty past the Frankfurt custodian, whose save ratio of 66.7 percent is the best of any goalkeeper to face three or more penalties in the division.
For comparison's sake, the Bundesliga's hitherto finest penalty-killer was former Hamburg and Nuremberg goalkeeper Rudi Kargus, who kept out 23 of the 76 penalties he faced in Germany's top flight in the 1970s and 80s, giving him a save quota of 'merely' 30.3 percent.
Reflecting on his latest stop, a modest Atubolu told DAZN: “I was confident in myself and trusted my abilities. Everything turned out fine in the end.”
Mainz talisman Amiri converted all 10 of his penalties for the Zerofivers in all competitions last season, with the midfielder’s last miss coming in a 1-0 victory over Augsburg in February 2024.
“Noah tried to unsettle me, but most goalkeepers do that,” Amiri said. “Normally I score, but today I didn’t. It’s part and parcel of football.”
Atubolu’s save came at a crucial moment for Adi Hütter’s side, who had made a bright start to the Matchday 3 contest but were having to withstand heavy pressure as Mainz sought a route back into the match.
However, instead of finding themselves on level terms at the interval, the Eagles went into half-time with a two-goal cushion thanks to Jonathan Burkardt’s crisp finish.
“The turning point was definitely Atubolu’s penalty save and Burkardt’s goal just before half-time,” said Hütter, whose side made it 3-0 on the hour mark thanks to Uzun’s first-time finish from Mario Götze’s cross. “It’s a very important win for us and our fans.”
Having watched their side draw 3-3 with Union Berlin and lose 4-1 at home to Augsburg in their opening two league games, Frankfurt fans will hope Saturday’s victory is a sign of better things to come as Hütter - who enjoyed a three-year spell in charge of Eintracht between 2018 and 2021 - tries to plot a path back into Europe.
Atubolu, a UEFA Europa League finalist with Freiburg last term, will certainly have a key role to play. And as fate would have it, next up for Atubolu and the Eagles is a home game against the goalkeeper's parent club, the 24-year-old having moved to Deutsche Bank Park on a season-long loan last month.
Julian Schuster's Freiburg side currently top the Bundesliga standings with a perfect record after three games, and have scored more goals (ten) and conceded fewer (one) than any other club - Bayern Munich included.
Whether or not they maintain that run may, ironically enough, depend on whether or not they are awarded a penalty on Satuday.
