Eintracht manager Armin Veh made only one change to the line-up from the match against Braunschweig a week before: Bamba Anderson replaced Martin Amedick in central defense, it was the Brazilian’s comeback after his operation in late December. The Eagles played a 4-2-3-1 again with Hoffer being the lone striker.
Uneventful First 45
In front of 44,100 Eintracht controlled the first half with fluent passing and solid defending, still no major chances were noted for the first half hour on either side. Meier then was a split second too late with the attempt of a header when he missed a decent Lehmann cross into the Fortuna box by a margin (33’). At the other end Nikolov did well to eliminate a far range shot by Rösler and also Beister’s attempt from a sharp angle. It was a first half that did not quite live up to the hype of the pre match build up. Eintracht’s game was more mature though, it seemed they were the hosts and Fortuna the away team, not the other way round. Still the goalless draw stood at the break.
Meier’s Sublime Touch
None of the managers made substitutions going into the second half which started with a great opportunity for the Eagles. Köhler crossed in from the left side and found Matmour who was free on goal but could not get enough power behind his attempt from close range - Fortuna keeper Ratajczak was able to save (49’). In the following period Düsseldorf created a number of half chances with finally Beister coming very close to scoring the lead but Nikolov was at the end of his trying shot.
Just when Düsseldorf seemed to increase the pressure Eintracht managed to score: Meier played a sublime throughball into the box towards Köhler who converted with a cool finish – 1-0 to the Eagles (69’)! It was Köhler’s 6th goal of the season already. Eintracht kept going for some time after taking the lead but soon stood deeper in their own half waiting for chances on the break and allowing the hosts more space. This resulted in a deflected shot by Bröker which hit the post (78’) and a Fink header cleared off the line by Rode (79’).
Dramatic Finish
Sonny Kittel came on for Köhler (81’) and a little later also Mo Idrissou (for Hoffer / 83’). Four minutes after he entered the pitch Idrissou had the chance to score Eintracht’s second when Matmour set him up in the box but the Cameroon striker side netted the ball (87’).
With a minute to go Eintracht defender Anderson and Fortuna striker Furuholm challenged each other for the ball in the Frankfurt box with Anderson seemingly clearing the ball. Referee Brych was not far from the spot and decided to let the match continue. The assistant referee though made contact although he was situated around three times as far away from the action compared to Brych who was also surrounded by Fortuna players complaining. He then pointed to the spot seconds later – penalty. Langeneke stepped up and converted despite Nikolov nearly being at the end of the shot into the bottom right corner (91’).
Continuous Debate
It was Fortuna’s 11th penalty in 21 matches making up around a quarter of their 45 goals. Defender Langeneke is on 9 goals already, all coming from penalties – he totals only 5 less than Bundesliga 2 top scorer Proschwitz of Paderborn (14). Much had been said during the week about the attitude of Fortuna players in the box and their behaviour towards opponents and referees – the debate will most likely continue after this highly dubious penalty.
Especially so as ‘enfant terrible’ Sascha Rösler instead of celebrating the equalizer made his way towards the Eintracht bench to then provoke subs and coaches verbally and with gestures. Subsequently he was sent off with a second yellow card (93’). A rather uneventful match came to its end with a dramatic finish.
Promising Outlook
It was an unlucky draw for the Eagles who had stood firm throughout and nearly took away all three points which would have moved them into the top of the standings. Eintracht had shown a decent team performance with especially Meier and Anderson impressing with their presence. The prospect of Schwegler and Amedick rejoining from their injuries and Idrissou fully recovering to 100% fitness is a promising outlook. Over 5,000 Eintracht supporters cheered on their team after the final whistle as if they would have taken away a win.
But Düsseldorf remain 1st in Bundesliga 2 on 44 points with Greuther Fürth ranked 2nd and the Eagles in the play-off spot both on 43 points. It remains a tight competition between the top 5 teams (click HEREfor the full standings). Coming up next is the ‘Frankfurt derby’ between Eintracht and FSV next Sunday at 13.30h CET.
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