FRANKFURT: Fans protested against Monday night football in the Bundesliga as Eintracht Frankfurt beat visiting RB Leipzig 2-1, delaying the start of both halves of the match, the second by throwing hundreds of tennis balls onto the pitch.

Leipzig, who missed a chance to go second in the table, had a penalty revoked by the video referee (VAR) and there was also a halftime scuffle in a bad-tempered game played against the backdrop of non-stop whistling by angry supporters.

The win took Frankfurt up to third with 39 points, one behind Borussia Dortmund, while Leipzig are fifth with 38. Bayern Munich are runaway leaders with 59.

The game was the first of five Monday fixtures to be scheduled this season, a development which has invited fierce criticism from fan groups across Germany.

Kick-off was delayed by four minutes as Frankfurt fans were allowed into the area between the stands and the advertising boards to protest.

“As a Bundesliga club, we have to accept this and be able to deal with protest culture,” Frankfurt board mem­­ber Axel Hellmann had told regional television station Hessische Rundfunk in the build-up to the match.

Banners were raised reading “Eintracht says no to Mondays” and “the street takes football back”. The game began to boos, and the fans maintained a chorus of whistling throughout.

With 12 minutes played, Konrad Laimer launched a darting run into the box to set-up Jean-Kevin Augustin, who swept in the opener for Leipzig.

Ten minutes later, Timothy Chandler got the better of Laimer at the far post to stab home the equaliser for Frankfurt four minutes before Kevin-Prince Boateng hammered the ball home first time from Ante Rebic’s cross for the winner.

Fans resumed their whistle-protest once the celebrations died down and the second half was delayed as they fans launched toilet paper and tennis balls onto the pitch.

“It is obviously not a normal evening, but everything unfolded peacefully,” injured Frankfurt forward Alex Meier told Eurosport.

Frankfurt supporters groups had called for the protests on Friday, saying that the league and clubs were “prepared to sacrifice our interests for the smallest of financial gains”.

“As long as they have a few more euros in their pockets, they couldn’t care less how many days’ holiday we need to take to attend an away game,” said a statement from the fans. “Marketing is their highest priority.”

Frankfurt coach Niko Kovac said he understood their frustration.

“Because in the end we play for ourselves but also for the supporters,” Kovac said.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2018