Early second-half goals from Marcel Seegert and Joseph Boyamba put Mannheim in the driving seat, with Martin Hinteregger’s red card all but ending Eintracht’s hopes of reaching the second round.
Debuts for trio
Oliver Glasner named a strong side for his first competitive game as Eintracht boss. New signings Jesper Lindström, Rafael Santos Borré and Christopher Lenz were all handed their debuts in a 3-4-3 formation, but Filip Kostic was serving the final game of a four-match ban dating back to the 2019/20 quarter-final tie with SV Werder Bremen.
Chances at both ends
Lindström was at the heart of all Eintracht’s early opportunities in Mannheim, firing a shot against SVW full-back Niklas-Wilson Sommer after just five minutes before going close again from the resulting corner. The Dane almost gave the Eagles the lead midway through the first half, sending a free-kick narrowly over the crossbar from 20 yards.
The hosts were second best for the majority of the half but nearly broke the deadlock five minutes before the interval through Marc Schnatterer, whose free-kick was heading into the top right corner until Kevin Trapp’s timely intervention. Daichi Kamada then headed wide from Lenz’s cross, before Trapp denied both Dominik Martinovic and Marcel Costly within a matter of seconds to keep the score level at the break.
Hosts advance
Mannheim started the second period the way they finished the first, and opened the scoring just three minutes after the restart. Schnatterer’s corner from the right was met by SVW skipper Seegert, whose well-placed header nestled beyond Trapp’s reach in the far corner of the net. It was 2-0 just four minutes later, Boyamba producing another cool finish following Martinovic’s solo-run.
Things went from bad to worse for Glasner’s side when Hinteregger was dismissed for a tactical foul with just under half an hour remaining. Second-half substitute Goncalo Paciencia almost halved the deficit late on, but there was to be no late fightback from the 2019/20 semi-finalists.
Summary: A disappointing start
Eintracht started well enough but the hosts grew in confidence as the tie wore on and managed to seal their place in the next round. Next up for Glasner’s side is a trip to Borussia Dortmund in their Bundesliga opener on Saturday 14 August.
SGE line-up
Trapp – Tuta (Younes 53’), Hinteregger, Ndicka – Da Costa (Zuber 80’), Sow, Rode (Hasebe 46’), Lenz – Kamada, Lindström (Barkok 68’), Borré (Paciencia 68’)
Goals
1-0 Seegert (48’)
2-0 Boyamba (52’)
Red card
Hinteregger (62’)
