Daichi Kamada drilled home the opener from Steven Zuber’s pass, only for Cody Gakpo to equalise for the hosts not long afterwards. Eintracht responded well, however, and earned themselves a deserved victory five minutes later courtesy of Hinteregger’s marvellous strike.
Personnel: Strong Eagles XI
Adi Hütter fielded a strong XI at the Philips Stadion, naming the likes of Kevin Trapp, Danny da Costa, Filip Kostic and André Silva in his starting line-up. There were five changes from the team that lost 1-0 to Basel in the Europa League, with Stefan Ilsanker, Makoto Hasebe, Aymen Barkok, Tuta and Goncalo Paciencia all coming into the side.
First half: Eintracht denied by woodwork
The Eagles started brightly in Eindhoven, with Silva particularly lively in the opening stages. The Portuguese striker, who scored eight goals in the final ten league matches of the 2019/20 campaign, was thwarted by a last-ditch tackle by Jordan Teze inside the opening five minutes, before firing narrowly wide from a tight angle moments later.
Ilsanker was forced off with what appeared to be a head injury mid-way through the first half, with Djibril Sow coming on in the Austrian’s stead. Eintracht continued to control proceedings, however, and went close again shortly before the half-hour mark when Dominik Kohr’s header from Kostic’s deflected delivery cannoned back off the crossbar.
Second half: Hinti wins it for Eintracht
Hütter made nine more changes at half-time, with Evan Ndicka and Sow the only players to remain on the field for the start of the second half. Zuber, a summer signing from TSG Hoffenheim, was also handed his first appearance in an Eintracht shirt and made an instant impact, playing an exquisite pass to Kamada who lashed home the opener nine minutes after the restart.
The Eagles’ lead lasted just eight minutes, however, as Gakpo found a pocket of space on the edge of the area before firing low past Frederik Rönnow to haul PSV level. Eintracht were not to be denied, though, as Hinteregger arrowed a low free-kick past Eindhoven goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall to give Hütter’s charges a deserved victory.
Head coach Adi Hütter: “It was a good performance from us against a very strong, exciting opponent. We were worthy winners over the 90 minutes and had several good periods in the game. We also scored twice and didn’t give away much at the back. After the break we introduced two new players in [Steven] Zuber and [Ragnar] Ache. Steven put in a good performance straight away - he was confident on the ball and did well to set up Daichi Kamada’s goal. He’s a very intelligent player, which helped us raise our game. Ragnar was unfortunate today in certain situations and I felt he had to really dig deep at times. He’s young and with us for the first time, but I thought he did very well.”
SGE line-up
First half: Trapp - Ndicka, Hasebe, Tuta - Kostic, Kohr, Ilsanker (Sow 23’), Barkok, Da Costa - Silva, Paciencia.
Second half: Rönnow - Touré, Hinteregger, Ndicka (Durm 77’) - Zuber, Sow, Kamada, Rode, Chandler - Dost, Ache.
Goals
0-1 Kamada (55’)
1-1 Gakpo (63’)
1-2 Hinteregger (68’)
