Headers from Hinteregger and Paciencia put Eintracht Frankfurt firmly in the driving seat, but Jonas Hector’s deflected strike reduced the arrears shortly before the interval. Sebastiaan Bornauw equalised for the visitors in the second half, before late goals from Dominick Drexler and Ismail Jakobs secured a second straight Bundesliga victory for Köln.
Personnel: Wiedwald in for Ronnow
Adi Hütter made five changes to the Eintracht side that lost 1-0 at ten-man Schalke on Sunday. Two of those alterations were enforced, with goalkeeper Felix Wiedwald and midfielder Dominik Kohr replacing injured duo Frederik Ronnow and Lucas Torro. Makoto Hasebe, Daichi Kamada and Paciencia were also recalled, while Evan Ndicka, Djibril Sow and Mijat Gacinovic dropped to the bench.
First half: Hinteregger strikes again
Chasing their first league win since the beginning of November, Eintracht started with intent and went close to an early opener when Hinteregger’s header flew inches wide of the far post. The centre-back made no mistake four minutes later, though, controlling Filip Kostic’s corner with his thigh before firing past Timo Horn for his sixth league goal of the campaign – more than any other defender in the Bundesliga.
The visitors dug in after falling behind, but the Eagles continued to create the better opportunities and doubled their lead when Paciencia headed home another Kostic corner on the half-hour mark. Hector reduced the arrears with a fierce long-range drive that took a wicked deflection off Almamy Toure on its way in, but Eintracht’s half-time lead was richly deserved.
Second half: Köln complete turnaround
Buoyed by Hector’s goal at the end of the first half, Köln started the second half brightly without really testing Wiedwald in the Eintracht goal. Chandler – making his 200th Bundesliga appearance – produced a superb clearance to stop Jakobs firing the Billy Goats level from close range, but the USA international could do little to prevent Bornauw from slotting home Florian Kainz’s cross with 18 minutes remaining.
The visitors continued to pin the Eagles back and completed the turnaround with nine minutes of normal time remaining, Drexler prodding home another Kainz delivery at the far post. Jakobs rubbed salt into Eintracht wounds in second-half stoppage time, confidently beating Wiedwald after taking Anthony Modeste’s pass in his stride.
Summary: An evening to forget
Eintracht looked set to return to winning ways after a dominant first-half performance, but the game swung in Köln’s favour after Hector’s fortuitous strike on the stroke of the interval. The Eagles can still end the year on a high note, however – Hütter’s side travel to bottom-of-the-table Paderborn in their final league game of 2019 on Sunday.
SGE line-up
Wiedwald - Toure, Hasebe, Hinteregger - Chandler, Kohr (Silva 84’), Rode (Sow 33’), Kostic - Kamada - Dost, Paciencia (Ndicka 61’)
Goals
1-0 Hinteregger (6’)
2-0 Paciencia (30’)
2-1 Hector (44’)
2-2 Bornauw (72’)
2-3 Drexler (81’)
2-4 Jakobs (90+4’)