Eintracht looked to be heading for their first victory in nine games after André Silva’s brace and an Aymen Barkok strike had put them 3-1 up following Lars Stindl’s opener, but the Borussia captain scored two more goals in the closing minutes to deny the Eagles, who had been reduced to 10 men by that point.
Younes starts, Silva returns
Adi Hütter made four changes to his side following the 2-1 defeat at Wolfsburg last Friday, including a first start for summer signing Amin Younes against his former club. Evan Ndicka had to pull out due to injury so Makoto Hasebe came into the defence, while Silva and Barkok were recalled in attack in place of Daichi Kamada and Bas Dost.
Silva steals the show
Gladbach started the match on the front foot and took the lead on 14 minutes, Stindl curling a fine free-kick out of the reach of Kevin Trapp. However, the Eagles responded superbly to the early setback and were level seven minutes later. Referee Benjamin Cortus awarded a penalty after Martin Hinteregger’s volley was blocked by the arm of Stefan Lainer, and Silva coolly converted it.
The turnaround was complete just three minutes later when Barkok played a long pass into the path of Silva, who brought it down with an exquisite first touch before firing underneath Gladbach goalkeeper Yann Sommer. Eintracht were fully in the ascendancy now and extended their lead in the 32nd minute. It was roles reversed this time as Silva fed Barkok in the area, and the Moroccan danced around the Gladbach defence before slotting the ball home with a goal that was the last notable action of a pulsating first half.
Late drama
Despite making a double substitution at the break, the visitors rarely troubled Eintracht for most of the second half. In fact, the Eagles had a good chance to wrap up the three points in the 64th minute when Silva picked out Younes in space just inside the area, but he scooped his shot over the bar. Hütter’s men remained alert at the back without creating any real chances themselves, but then a key moment came in the 81st minute when skipper David Abraham was shown a second yellow card for bringing down Breel Embolo.
The Foals eventually began to apply pressure and it paid off in the last minute of regular time. Embolo was again felled, this time in the area by Barkok, and Stindl tucked away the resulting penalty. Then, in the fifth of six minutes of stoppage time, Stindl completed the comeback and his hat-trick, nodding in the rebound after his own header had been saved by Trapp.
Summary: Cruel blow
Eintracht were seconds away from claiming a precious win, and it is hard to argue they wouldn’t have deserved it, particularly for the way they responded to going behind in the first half. Sadly, their 10 men couldn’t quite hold on and the Eagles will have to put that disappointment behind them ahead of their final match of the year.
SGE line-up
Trapp – Abraham, Hasebe, Hinteregger – Durm, Sow, Rode (Kamada 90+2’), Kostic – Barkok (Da Costa 90+2’), Younes (Kohr 71’) – Silva (Ilsanker 83’)
Goals
0-1 Stindl (14’)
1-1 Silva (pen. 22’)
2-1 Silva (24’)
3-1 Barkok (32’)
3-2 Stindl (pen. 90’)
3-3 Stindl (90’+5)
