Celebrations were muted on the pitch as the former Leeds United man scored against his old employers this midweek.
But while the one-time Elland Road stalwart may have succeeded in keeping his emotions on check immediately after heading the equaliser in a stunning 4-1 comeback win on Tuesday night, the excitement was far more difficult to hide once the final whistle blew.
It may have been Omar Marmoush’s final outing in an Eintracht Frankfurt shirt – the Manchester City-bound forward signing off in style with a goal and two assists – but the effervescent Egyptian cannot be accused of leaping from a sinking ship.
Far from it.
Marmoush departs, or at least he is expected to, with Frankfurt very-well placed to continue their pursuit of a Champions League place.
It was Marmoush who assisted Robin Koch’s header on the stroke of half-time, the former Leeds United centre-back converting his first of the season and his fifth since returning to Germany back in 2023.
And, as Frankfurt turned the screw on Freiburg during a dominant, swashbuckling second half at the Commerzbank Arena, that eventual 4-1 scoreline leaves Dino Toppmoller’s side third in the table. Only five points off reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen, and clear of RB Leipzig following their reverse at Stuttgart.
Former Leeds United ace Robin Koch leads Frankfurt’s Champions League charge
Robin Koch has been a man reborn since leaving Leeds for Frankfurt, initially on loan and then on a free transfer. The Germany international was part of Julian Nagelsmann’s Euro 2024 squad, forcing his way back into the picture following three years in the shadows.
And after helping Frankfurt secure a sixth-place spot in 2023/24, Koch could now go one step further with Champions League football now a very realistic ambition.
“We played an almost perfect game today,” Koch said at full-time, imperious at one end and a scorer at the other. “The goal against us was pretty much Freiburg’s only chance.”
Successive Bundesliga wins has Frankfurt leaving RB Leipzig behind
Koch has now started every one of Frankfurt’s 17 Bundesliga matches this season. The Kaiserslautern-born 28-year-old, who joined Leeds following promotion to the Premier League under Marcelo Bielsa, has even captained The Eagles on a number of occasions.
It’s fair to say the pressure was on at the start of 2025, too. Frankfurt went into the winter break on the back of two defeats and a draw in their final two matches of 2024.
Successive wins over St Pauli and now Freiburg – and who knows what might have happened had Koch not converted Marmoush’s corner on the brink of the interval – has a relieved Toppmoller once again dreaming of midweek trips to Barcelona, Madrid and Paris next term.
“I said at the beginning of the year that it is very important for us to come back into the game from set pieces or to steer the game in our direction,” Toppmoller beams, Koch heading in Frankfurt’s ninth set-piece goal of the campaign.
“My heart swells when I see our great spirit. This spirit can carry us very far. It is something special to be part of this group.”
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