Silva’s penalty and Dost’s towering header gave Eintracht a comfortable 2-0 lead at the interval, before Rode added a third in the second half. Hertha were handed a lifeline when Martin Hinteregger put through his own net with 13 minutes remaining, but it was too little, too late for the hosts.
Personnel: Touré and Ilsanker come in
Eagles boss Adi Hütter made two changes to the team that drew 1-1 at home to Arminia Bielefeld last weekend. Almamy Touré was preferred to Danny da Costa on the right flank, while Stefan Ilsanker returned in central midfield in place of Dominik Kohr.
First half: Deserved lead
The Eagles looked calm and composed in possession in the opening stages, but they suffered an early setback when Filip Kostic suffered an injury in a collision with Hertha defender Jordan Torunarigha. The Serbia international received lengthy treatment on the sidelines but was unable to continue, with Steven Zuber coming on in his stead.
Undeterred, Hütter’s charges continued to press for an opener and were handed a golden opportunity to break the deadlock when Dedryck Boyata fouled Silva inside the penalty area. The Portugal striker dusted himself off before firing home his tenth goal in 12 Bundesliga appearances stretching back to last season. It was 2-0 six minutes later, Dost rising highest to head Daichi Kamada’s inswinging free-kick past Alexander Schwolow in the Hertha goal.
Second half: Eagles hold firm
Bruno Labbadia rang the changes at the interval, bringing off Peter Pekarik, Vladimir Darida and Krzysztof Piatek for Deyovaisio Zeefuik, Arne Maier and Jhon Cordoba. The treble substitution appeared to have the desired effect as the hosts gradually began to exert pressure on the Eintracht defence, but they were unable to find a way past Kevin Trapp.
They fell further behind when Rode cut onto his left foot before sending a superb curling effort past Schwolow and into the far corner via the inside of the post. Hinteregger diverted the ball past his own goalkeeper while trying to cut out Torunarigha’s low cross, but there was no way back for Hertha at the Olympiastadion.
Summary: Clinical in attack, solid in defence
The only sour note to Friday’s impressive victory was the injury to Kostic, who looked in some discomfort as he was taken off. Hütter will hope the injury is not too severe, but the Eintracht boss will be delighted with his team’s response to that early setback. The Eagles thoroughly deserved their two-goal lead at the break and defended stoically in the second half to hold on for all three points.
SGE line-up
Trapp - Abraham, Hasebe, Hinteregger - Touré (Da Costa 66’), Ilsanker, Rode (Sow 84’), Kostic (Zuber 15’) - Kamada - Dost (Ache 66’), Silva (Barkok 84’)
Goals
0-1 Silva (pen. 30’)
0-2 Dost (36’)
0-3 Rode (71’)
1-3 Hinteregger (og 77’)
