Eintracht manager Armin Veh left the starting 11 as it was for the third match in a row. Hoffer and Idrissou featured up front again in a 4-4-2 formation. The German football association (DFB) had penalized Eintracht with a match ban of their supporters for the game in Berlin, but it soon became obvious that around 1,000 had made their way into the ground anyway.
Anderson Knock-Out, Idrissou Opener
They saw an aerial duel between Anderson and Union forward Silvio after only three minutes from which the Eintracht defender suffered an elbow hit against his head and a cut above his eye brow. He came back after treatment for around half an hour and was later replaced by Heiko Butscher.
Idrissou then set up Hoffer in front of the Union goal with a cross but keeper Glinker was at the end of Hoffer’s attempt (7’). Two minutes later it was again Hoffer crossing in to Köhler wo was quick to react and passing it on to Idrissou who was left unmarked by Union’s defense – 1-0 (9’)!
After Eintracht’s lead it became an entertaining match with the hosts also pushing forward and the Eagles looking to make use of possible counter attacks. Kohlmann (15’) and Mattuschka (22’) came close to scoring for Union, Idrissou (18’) and Hoffer (28’) did so for Eintracht. Alex Meier even hit the post at the end of the first half from the edge of the box – the half time lead was once again well deserved.
Union Going Forward, Hoffer’s Header
The hosts kept pushing in the second half and Ede (52‘) and Belaid (55‘) had chances to get the equalizer, Hoffer had a go but Glinker saved (53’). It was Eintracht captain Pirmin Schwegler who hit a superb cross leading to an unstoppable header of Hoffer – the Austrian got his deserved goal and extended the lead (57’) – 2-0 to the Eagles!
An hour into the match the second goal left Eintracht in control and despite the fact that Berlin did not give up the majority of scoring opportunities fell to the Eagles. Idrissou (60’), Meier (65’) and Jung (67’) did not convert their chances though.
Meier Brace
Union skipper Karl closely missed the goal with a header from a corner, at the other end Alex Meier proved more clinical – a skillful build-up via Köhler and Idrissou left Eintracht’s top scorer with a decent opportunity just inside the box and he made use of it with a fine shot (73’).
Again Meier (77‘) and also Jung (78‘) came close to scoring while Union’s Zoundi hit the cross bar with a header (79‘). In the dying minutes of the match Alex Meier scored his 15th goal of the season from close range (making him joint top scorer of Bundesliga 2) after Rode had set him up perfectly (89’).
Eintracht took away all three points with a mature and confident performance and made a further big step in the battle for promotion. The result might make it look like an easy win but it was not, Union showed a decent match also. It was Frankfurt’s 4th win in a row and they scored 13 goals in those four matches.
The Eagles have now increased the gap to third placed Düsseldorf to five points (play-off spot) and they have a cushion of seven points to spot four. Coming up next is the home match against VfL Bochum on Friday at 18h CET.
