Manager Armin Veh made a couple of changes in the back four: Butscher and Amedick stayed on the bench, Schildenfeld returned to central defense and Djakpa started on the left. Matthias Lehmann was also left out and Mo Idrissou came back to the starting 11 as a second striker next to Hoffer, the Eagles played in a 4-4-2 formation.
And they did not waste much time to take control of the match. Their dominance and possession paid off after 13 minutes already when Sebastian Jung was through on the right and passed into the box, his cross found Benny Köhler who converted from close range with his 8th goal of the season - 1-0 (13')! The Eagles seemed to gain more confidence from the goal and continued with their slick passing but they did not create further chances for now.
Hansa had a first go when Tobias Jänicke advanced with a decent run, his far range shot went over the bar (23'). Moments later Mintal had an attempt which was blocked by Anderson, Jänickes follow up was saved by Nikolov (27'). Hansa got back into the match while Eintracht failed to make use of the early lead at this stage. After a Rostock corner Eintracht keeper Nikolov could not keep hold of the ball and Köhler cleared it off the line just in time, Mintal's following shot did not succeed either (33').
But the Eagles came back although Hansa was creating some pressure, it was Gordon Schildenfeld who was at the end of a Köhler corner and headed in for Eintracht's second goal (42'). This was efficiency of some sort on Frankfurt's part and after an unsettled first half they went into the break with a two goal lead.
Sonny Kittel came on for Erwin Hoffer at the restart of the match, but again the hosts had the first scoring opportunities of the second half. Nikolov did well to save a Jänicke attempt (47') as well as a close range shot of Borg (52'). The first Eintracht chance fell to Alex Meier after a decent build-up via Köhler and Djakpa but his attempt was side-netted (59'), minutes later Rostock keeper Müller had a great save to deny again Meier's shot (61').
Eintracht's defense then did not clear a ball which fell to Mintal, his attempt hit the post and was followed up by Robert Müller who scored with a powerful shot (63').
The Eagles had a good chance to score from a Kittel shot but Rostock keeper Müller saved (72'), and it was him again who denied Meier's volley just a minute later (73'). They were now back in the match, Rostock's goal seemed like a wake up call to the Eintracht team who showed an improved attitude at this stage. As a result Sonny Kittel scored the third benefitting from some confusion in the Hansa defense, he picked up the attempt of a clearance by Hansa skipper Pelzer and this time left keeper Müller without a chance - 3-1 (77')!
But Rostock did not give up and kept trying, and they came close when Borg's shot hit the cross bar (80'). Sebastian Rode then sealed it for the Eagles when he converted a headed pass by Idrissou - 4-1 (84'). Meier had another chance to extend the lead (86') but was unlucky, Idrissou did so when his left footed shot beat Müller to make it 5-1 (87'). Kittel even had the chance to add his second but his shot went over the bar.
The win moved the Eagles back up to spot 2 in the Bundesliga 2 standings. Despite some difficulties during the match - Rostock were close to coming back after Müller's goal - Eintracht kept going forward and were rewarded with the decisive goals. The have now scored the most goals in the division (58) and are the best away team (24 points, +13 goals). Coming up next is the home match against Dynamo Dresden next Friday at 18h CET.
