Head coach Dino Toppmöller made four changes to the team that won 3-1 at Hoffenheim at the weekend. Mario Götze returned to the starting line-up following the birth of his second child, while Hrvoje Smolcic, Junior Dina Ebimbe and Niels Nkounkou were also recalled.
Explosive Eagles
The visitors from Finland wanted to show they weren’t overawed in front of 55,500 fans and Perparim Hetemaj drew the first save of the game from Jens Grahl – filling in for the suspended Kevin Trapp in goal – after just five minutes. After that, though, Eintracht were dominant and came close to taking the lead in the ninth minute, when Omar Marmoush headed narrowly wide from Farès Chaibi’s wicked free-kick. However, that situation did eventually lead to the opener as the video assistant spotted a handball by Jukka Raitala. The referee awarded a penalty, which Dina Ebimbe tucked away to claim his first European goal for Eintracht.
The Frenchman almost netted a second 10 minutes later but his shot was saved by Jesse Öst. The Helsinki goalkeeper was kept busy, tipping Chaibi’s free-kick behind just a few minutes later. And from the resulting corner, Robin Koch guided the ball in at the near post to make it 2-0. The Eagles didn’t let up and were three goals to the good just three minutes later. After having two attempts blocked, Marmoush found the net with a fine finish with the outside of his boot.
After a ferocious half-hour, the hosts took their foot off the pedal slightly in the final quarter of the half, but they still managed to add another goal before half-time. Again it came from a Chaibi corner, and this time it was Tuta who headed home in the third minute of stoppage time.
Complete control
Eintracht continued where they left off after the restart. Ansgar Knauff struck the crossbar on 50 minutes, but the net was rippling again five minutes later. Chaibi played in Dina Ebimbe, whose first-time square ball was turned in by Ellyes Skhiri. With the three points all but secure, Toppmöller took the opportunity to give the likes of Chaibi and Skhiri an early finish, as Kristijan Jakic made his comeback from injury.
Knauff and Dina Ebimbe went close to extending the lead, while HJK rarely troubled European debutant Grahl at the other end. Timothy Chandler then made his first competitive appearance of the campaign, and he was involved in the final incident of the match. The right-back provided the assist for Dina Ebimbe to score his second and the team’s sixth goal of the night, as Eintracht opened up a five-point cushion in second place in Group G going into the return fixture in Helsinki on 9 November.
SGE line-up
Grahl – Tuta (Hasebe 56’), Koch, Smolcic – Dina Ebimbe, Götze, Skhiri (Jakic 65’), Nkounkou – Chaibi (Aaronson 56’), Knauff (Chandler 79’) – Marmoush (Ngankam 56’)
Goals
1-0 Dina Ebimbe (12’ pen)
2-0 Koch (27’)
3-0 Marmoush (30’)
4-0 Tuta (45’+3)
5-0 Skhiri (55’)
6-0 Dina Ebimbe (89’)