The Eagles survived a difficult start before close-range finishes from Kristensen and Bahoya gave them a two-goal half-time lead. Philipp Hofmann struck in the second half to set up a nervy finish, but second-half substitute Batshuayi scored his second Eintracht goal in added time to move Dino Toppmöller’s side level on points with third-placed 1. FSV Mainz 05 in the Bundesliga table.
Højlund returns
Toppmöller made just one change to the Eagles side that reached the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals with a 4-1 last-16 second-leg victory over Ajax on Thursday. Oscar Højlund was preferred to Ansgar Knauff, who was named on the bench, while winter arrival Elye Wahi was absent because of a minor knee injury.
Two-goal cushion at the break
Kick-off at the Vonovia Ruhrstadion was delayed for around 50 minutes because of banners blocking the emergency exits. Once the action got under way, it was Bochum who made the brighter start and Kaua Santos needed to be on his toes to deny Matúš Bero after the midfielder had been picked out by Maximilian Wittek. Jakov Medic and Ivan Ordec sent headers narrowly off target not long afterwards in a difficult opening for the visitors.
The Eagles soon grew into the game, however, and almost got their noses in front when Hugo Ekitiké raced clear of the Bochum defence and sent a dinked effort just past the far post. Georgios Masouras had a goal disallowed for offside at the other end, before Kristensen collected a magnificent Ellyes Skhiri pass and beat Timo Horn on the rebound after his initial effort was held by the VfL stopper. It was 2-0 just five minutes later, Bahoya opening his Bundesliga account with a fine first-time finish from Ekitiké’s teasing delivery.
Batshuayi clinches the points
Chances were few and far between early in the second half as Bochum struggled to forge a route back into the contest. Santos did well to parry a Masouras shot wide of the post, but other than that the Brazilian had precious little to do until Hofmann reduced the arrears from Gerrit Holtmann’s cross. The goal was subject to a lengthy VAR check, but Hofmann was deemed to be onside from his team-mate’s delivery.
Half-time substitute Knauff spurned an opportunity to restore Eintracht’s two-goal lead with eight minutes remaining when he shot straight at Horn from close range, before Santos produced a sensational stop to prevent Dani de Wit’s header from nestling in the back of the net. With Bochum committing bodies forward in stoppage time, Knauff broke forward again and brilliantly picked out Batshuayi to seal the win for the Eagles.
