#1 Eintracht Frankfurt improbably survive a five-way relegation struggle
With four games left in the 1998-1999 Bundesliga season, Eintracht Frankfurt’s return to the Futball Bundesliga 2 looked all but certain, that is until they won three games in a row and cut a four-point lead into just two, which gave them a fighting chance.
Four games were played, with Frankfurt playing previous champions Kaiserslautern, Stuttgart facing Werder Bremen, Nurnberg against Freiburg and Bochum battling it out with Hansa Rostock.
However, with less than 15 minutes left, Frankfurt were 2-1 up against Kaiserslautern and still charged forward, as they needed another two goals in a situation which had so many possible permutations.
At that point, 12th placed Nurnberg were losing 2-0, but they had no problems as they knew that as long as Frankfurt’s score remained the same and Hansa Rostock – who at that point were trailing 2-1 – failed to win at Bochum, they were safe.
But as improbable as it sounded, both hit two each, only for Nurnberg themselves to strike in the 86th minute. It looked as though they would stay up on goal difference at the expense of Eintracht Frankfurt but there were more twists and turns to come.
Frankfurt struck in the 87th minute through Jan Aage Fjotorft to complete the roller-coaster day and the difference came down to not even goal difference. In the end, the table turned to goals scored and Fjotorft had hit one of the most famous ones to complete the most riveting relegation scrap in footballing folklore.
