Leipzig had the majority of the possession in the match but it was Eintracht who were more effective as they repeated their feat from 10 days and defeated Julian Nagelsmann’s side.
Personnel: Four changes
Head coach Adi Hütter made four changes from the side that started in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Fortuna Düsseldorf. Almamy Toure, Makoto Hasebe, Silva and fit-again Mijat Gacinovic all returned to the starting line-up, with Danny da Costa, Timothy Chandler, Daichi Kamada and Goncalo Paciencia making way.
First half: Leipzig with possession, Eintracht with the lead
The visitors made the early running at the Commerzbank-Arena and had the first good chance on 10 minutes, when Patrik Schick stole the ball off Hasebe but was denied by a strong save by Kevin Trapp. However, the turning point of the first half fell Eintracht’s way after quarter of an hour. Kostic’s cross from the left evaded everyone but brushed the arm of Marcel Halstenberg – something that the referee initially failed to recognise but then confirmed with VAR. Silva stepped up and sent Yvon Mvogo the wrong way to give the hosts the lead.
Leipzig continued to enjoy most of the possession, but some excellent covering from the hard-working Eagles dealt with some potentially dangerous situations, and Hütter’s men preserved their one-goal advantage until the break.
Second half: Kostic double seals victory
That lead was doubled early on in the second half after an excellent counter-attack by the Eagles. Dayot Upamecano played a loose pass on the halfway line, Sebastian Rode immediately set Kostic on his way and the Serbian did the rest, racing through on goal before coolly finishing past Mvogo. Kostic was involved again a few minutes later when he teed up Gacinovic, who found the side-netting from a tight angle.
The visitors then found a way back into the game in the 69th minute, when Angelino’s cut-back came through to substitute Dani Olmo, who buried the ball into the bottom corner. Leipzig rarely troubled Trapp after that, though – in fact, Martin Hinteregger had a good chance to wrap up the win for Eintracht from Kostic’s free-kick, but Mvogo reacted well to his glancing header. It was left to Kostic himself to put the cherry on the cake deep into added time, when he latched onto Paciencia’s flick-on and thumped the ball past Mvogo to send the home fans dancing into the night.
Summary: Efficient, hard-working performance
Eintracht rediscovered their tactical discipline from the opening two games of the year as they again nullified Leipzig’s attacking talent with excellent pressing while making the most of their own opportunities. With the help of the clinical Kostic and the vociferous home support, they go through to the last eight of the competition.
SGE line-up
Trapp – Toure, Abraham, Hinteregger, Ndicka – Rode (Kohr 77’), Sow, Hasebe – Gacinovic (Chandler 81‘), Silva (Paciencia 88‘), Kostic
Goals
1-0 Silva (pen. 17’)
2-0 Kostic (51’)
2-1 Olmo (69’)
3-1 Kostic (90+5’)