Goncalo Paciencia opened the scoring for the Eagles in the second half, but Anthony Musaba slotted home five minutes from time to deny Eintracht a deserved victory ahead of Thursday’s UEFA Europa League Round of 16 second leg against Basel.
Personnel: Barkok included in strong team
Adi Hütter’s side included six members of the team that started the Eagles’ final Bundesliga game of the season against SC Paderborn. Makoto Hasebe began in defence after recovering from minor knee surgery, while Aymen Barkok was also handed an opportunity to impress in midfield.
First half: Eintracht go closest to breakthrough
The best chance of an even opening fell to Bas Dost, who blazed over the crossbar after getting on the end of Filip Kostic’s low cross. The Dutchman had another effort blocked moments later as Eintracht continued to probe for a breakthrough, before Stefan Ilsanker headed narrowly wide from the resulting corner.
Monaco, who are coached by former Eagles boss Niko Kovac, saw plenty of the ball but were fortunate not to go into half-time a goal down after Benjamin Lecomte was forced to tip Barkok’s dipping effort over the crossbar.
Second half: Eagles denied late on
Hütter made 10 changes at the interval, with Timothy Chandler, Daichi Kamada, Paciencia and new signing Ragnar Ache among the players to enter the fray. It was Kamada and Paciencia who combined to give Eintracht the lead 13 minutes into the second half, the Portuguese striker collecting his team-mate’s precise pass before finishing coolly past Lecomte.
Kamada almost doubled Eintracht’s lead when he struck the inside of the post with 11 minutes remaining, but Monaco salvaged a draw when Musaba fired home on the rebound after Kevin Trapp had saved Willem Geubbels’ effort.
SGE line-up
First half: Trapp - Toure, Hasebe, Hinteregger - Da Costa, Sow, Ilsanker, Barkok, Kostic - Silva, Dost.
Second half: Trapp - Tuta, Abraham, Ndicka - Chandler, Rode, Kohr, Kamada, Durm - Paciencia, Ache.
Goals
1-1 Paciencia (58’)
1-1 Musaba (85’)
