Head coach Oliver Glasner fielded a strong line-up in the first half, with the likes of Kevin Trapp, Martin Hinteregger, Tuta and Sebastian Rode all playing their first friendly of the summer.
Kostic and Hrustic combine twice
The Eagles started on the front foot at the Deutsche Bank Park and opened the scoring after just six minutes, when Filip Kostic’s low bouncing ball was slotted in at the far post by Ajdin Hrustic. They looked to be in control of the game but a lapse in defence allowed Strasbourg to equalise with their first opportunity, striker Ludovic Ajorque stealing the ball and firing it past Trapp.
Eintracht responded perfectly, though, and again it was the combination of Kostic and Hrustic who put them in front. This time it was a low cut-back from the Serbian that was swept in with a fine finish by the Australian. The visitors had chances to level again before the break, but only Majeed Waris forced a save from Trapp and the Eagles preserved their lead until the half-time whistle.
Game tilts in second half
As with the previous friendlies, the large number of substitutions at the break took some of the rhythm out of Eintracht’s play, and Strasbourg equalised just seven minutes into the second half. Again the Eagles lost possession in their own half and Racing took full advantage, with Adrien Thomasson providing the finish.
There was subsequently little action of note until the 82nd minute, when the French side took the lead for the first time. Habib Diallo wriggled his way through on goal but looked to have squandered the opportunity after delaying and being forced wide by Trapp. However, he managed to squeeze a shot into the bottom corner, and 3-2 was how it finished.
Oliver Glasner: “The defeat is self-inflicted because of defensive mistakes. Apart from that, we gave little away and there were lots of bright spots. Overall it's a nice match to analyse, for example in terms of how we can cover better. Going forward we had good ideas with probing runs, especially in the first half.”
SGE line-up
First half: Trapp - Tuta, Hinteregger, Ndicka - da Costa, Rode, Hrustic, Kostic - Kamada, Younes - Barkok.
Second half: Trapp - Chandler, Hasebe, Ndicka (62' Otto) - Durm, Ilsanker, Hrustic (62' Zalazar), Lenz - Akman, Barkok (62' Blanco) - Paciencia.
Goals
1-0 Hrustic (6')
1-1 Ajorque (20')
2-1 Hrustic (22')
2-2 Thomasson (52')
2-3 Diallo (82')
