Eintracht manager Niko Kovac had to replace Makoto Hasebe who is suffering a knee problem, Carlos Salcedo stepped in and had his Bundesliga and Eintracht debut. It was the only change in the starting line-up compared to the home match against Wolfsburg a couple of weeks back.
Boateng scores
A first attempt of Mijat Gacinovic found its way through the Gladbach defense and Boateng put it into the net, the goal was called offside though (1‘). Then Haller got past Vestergaard and had a good go but his attempt was off target (9‘). The Eagles started well and confident while the hosts had little space to come forward.
Eintracht took the lead; Willems found Haller with a long throw who set up Boateng inside the box and “Prince” did not think twice putting the ball into the net – 1-0 Eintracht (13’)! The goal was deserved as SGE was the far more active team and they kept coming, a Chandler cross again found Boateng but his header was controlled by Gladbach keeper Sommer (15’).
BMG had a chance after a fast break via Herrmann, Hazard picked up his the cross directly but luckily side-netted the ball (18’). A Raffael long range attempt did no harm to Hradecky’s goal as it was off target (21’).
Good first half
And SGE kept going, Fernandes tried a long-range cracker which was touched by Sommer and just inches wide (27’), shortly after that Gacinovic had a go but his attempt was off target. The hosts got better into the match now and created a few attacks but so far there were no clear-cut chances for BMG.
Gacinovic came again charging down the left side and into the box, his pass into the middle was cleared by Borussia’s defense though for a corner (39’), it was yet another good chance for SGE. The hosts had hardly a scoring opportunity in the first half, only harmless long-range efforts of Raffael and Hazard. Eintracht’s deserved 1-0 lead stood at the break.
Less action
Both managers at either side made no substitutions ahead of the re-start of the match but Kovac brought on Rebic for Boateng shortly after (50’). The second half was a touch less entertaining, the hosts tried to get hold of the match while Eintracht stood deeper looking to come forward on the break. Gladbach’s Stindl had a great effort from the edge of the box but SGE keeper Hradecky stopped it with a fantastic save (55’).
Ante Rebic made use of his pace and power and had a couple of good runs into the box, the latter one nearly found Chandler in the middle but was cleared by Wendt at the very last moment (58’). Borussia came pushing and had more control of the match, they won various corners but still did not manage to create big opportunities – also as the Eagles were defending solidly around skipper David Abraham.
Solid defending
Kovac brought on Russ for Fernandes (77’) and shortly after that Tawatha for Willems (80’). Eintracht kept their calm and allowed Gladbach little action in front of the goal. The next chance fell to SGE when a fantastic long-range shot of Gacinovic was inches wide and left Sommer watching – a great chance (84').
The 3,200 Eintracht away supporters started celebrating but they had to overcome six minutes added time. Bobadilla went down inside the box and the referee consulted the video assistant but no spot-kick was given (90+2‘). It was a hectic end to the match and Stindl had a chance after a corner, his attempt was off target (90+6’).
After all the final whistle was blown and the Eagles grabbed the deserved away win after a great first and a solid second half. Well done lads! Next up is the home match against FC Augsburg next Saturday (15.30 CET).
