Thirteen days after the thrilling 3-2 win at VfB Stuttgart, head coach and birthday boy Dino Toppmöller made two alterations to his starting line-up. Mario Götze, making his 100th appearance for Eintracht, and Ansgar Knauff replaced Hugo Larsson and Junior Dina Ebimbe in midfield.
Götze strikes at vital time
On a bitterly cold November evening at a sold-out Deutsche Bank Park, there were no signs of sluggishness following the international break as the game got off to an energetic and open start. Omar Marmoush fired a powerful effort just over the bar on five minutes, and did the same seven minutes later after Hugo Ekitiké’s attempt had been blocked. Seconds later, Werder keeper Michael Zetterer was equal to Ekitiké’s attempted lob. At the other end, Nnamdi Collins had to make two important blocks to stop Derrick Köhn.
After that fast start, the tempo died down and there was little in the way of clear-cut chances. Marmoush did warm the gloves of Zetterer with a long-range strike, while Marco Grüll missed the target with a first-time volley for the visitors. It looked like there was going to be nothing to separate the two sides at the interval until the 45th minute when Nathaniel Brown played a low cross into the box, which Ekitiké neatly laid off for Götze to mark his milestone appearance with a goal and give Frankfurt the advantage at half-time.
Eagles protect slender lead
It remained a close-fought affair in the second half. Bremen had more possession as they looked for a way back into the game, but the Eagles largely kept them at bay and looked to exploit their trademark counter-attacking play. Genuine opportunities were hard to come by for both teams, though. It wasn’t until the 66th minute that the next one arrived, when Marmoush’s shot from the left of the penalty area was pushed away by Zetterer.
The pressure from Bremen increased in the closing stages and Kevin Trapp was forced into a good save for the first time on 76 minutes, tipping Mitchell Weiser’s header over the bar. Four minutes later, Trapp watched in relief as Niklas Stark’s header from a corner bounced off the far post – although it would’ve subsequently been disallowed for a foul.
The Eagles managed to prevent any further attempts on their goal after that and saw out their fifth successive win in all competitions, which takes them up to second place in the Bundesliga.
