Frankfurt started with no change in their line up, four league games in a row now Skibbe chose the same starting 11. Right in the second minute Gekas had a first chance after a Tzavellas freekick but miscontrolled the ball. It was the Greek striker again who was through on goal four minutes later but his chance was denied by former Frankfurt keeper Haas who also saved a fine Caio shot in the same minute.
In the 10th minute Hoffenheim came close but Vukcevic was called offside, his shot missed Nikolov’s goal by a margin anyhow. Eintracht was the more active team but 1899 looked dangerous on the break.
It was 4-1 shots to Eintracht after 15 minutes but again the guests came close with a Salihovic free kick which was saved in style by Oka Nikolov (18’). Hoffenheim then picked up their game, it became more even than in the opening period though the fluency was cut off by fouls on both sides. Altintop had a chance after another Tzavellas free kick but missed the target (23’).
The Eagles then dominated the game and had a few more scoring opportunities, but Hoffenheim ended up bagging the goal. After a corner cross by Rudy Eintracht's defense left Vukcevic by himself who headed in (31’). A minute later it was keeper Nikolov who kept Eintracht in the game once again with a double save from close range efforts of Hoffenheim’s Ibisevic.
Benny Koehler came close for Eintracht after a fine Ochs cross but his header was wide, so was Salihovic’s long range free kick effort on the other side. So the score stood into half time.
Both teams reappeared without changes in their line ups after the break. The Eagles kept trying but without luck, also concerning the referee’s decisions. The most debatable one was a Demba Ba handball in the Hoffenheim box after an Altintop shot, but no penalty was given. Eintracht built up the pressure, Hoffenheim mostly reacted with fouls (most of them not given), still waiting for their chance on the counter attack. Tzavellas was booked after 60 minutes – he will miss the next match as it was his fifth yellow.
Steinhoefer came on for the injured Schwegler, a little later Fenin for Altintop. Ochs then had a shot that went wide (68). The guest’s destructive style of playing finally paid off for them, Ibisevic managed to score a brace within a minute (69’ and 70’) and all of a sudden it was 0-3. No major incidents occurred up until the final minute when once again Nikolov was beaten, this time by Mlapa from close range.
The 44,300 crowd witnessed the end of a great Eintracht run (7 unbeaten games including 5 wins) with this heavy defeat. After conceding only 11 goals in 12 games this time they suffered four in a single fixture. Coming up next is the tough away game to Bayern Munich (Saturday 27/11/2010 @15.30h CET) with two Eintracht defenders being on a match ban for their fifth bookings (Tsavellas and Franz).
