The Eagles fell behind after 11 minutes through Karim Onisiwo’s long-range strike and the visitors managed to hold onto their slender advantage until Hrustic – who came on in the first half for the injured Sebastian Rode – equalised late on with his first Bundesliga goal.
Three changes
Head coach Adi Hütter’s line-up showed three changes from the team that started at Bayer Leverkusen on Matchday 31. Tuta replaced the suspended Evan Ndicka in the back three, where he was joined by Makoto Hasebe, who reverted from midfield at the expense of Stefan Ilsanker as Rode returned after a ban. Luka Jovic was preferred to Aymen Barkok in attack in the other switch.
Eintracht with possession, Mainz with the goal
The in-form visitors made a lively start at Deutsche Bank Park and sent an early warning shot inside the first minute from Jonathan Burkardt. Just as Eintracht were beginning to settle into the game, Mainz took the lead on 11 minutes. Kevin Trapp came out to clear the ball but it came back towards his goal via Onisiwo, whose low shot left the goalkeeper with with no chance.
The Eagles responded well to going behind, with Jovic having a shot blocked for a corner and Filip Kostic testing Mainz goalkeeper Robin Zentner with a volley into the ground. Hütter’s side kept probing for the rest of the first half, enjoying over 74 per cent of possession, but struggled to create clear-cut opportunities against a well-drilled Mainz defence. They looked to be in on goal when André Silva broke through, but Jeremiah St. Juste got back to make a well-timed tackle to deny the Portugal international.
Hrustic improvises
Eintracht continued to dominate after the break but were largely restricted to half-chances as Mainz sat back and defended their lead. A triple substitution in the 65th minute injected some life into the Eagles’ play, with Ilsanker, Timothy Chandler and Amin Younes all entering the fray. The latter two combined in the 70th minute, but Younes’ volley was too weak to trouble Zentner.
Onisiwo then had a great chance to get his second goal when he was one-on-one with Trapp, but the Eintracht keeper stood up and smothered well. The pressure from the hosts went up a notch in the closing stages and it paid off when Hrustic equalised in unusual fashion. After his first attempt from Younes’ cut-back was blocked, the Australian managed to send a looping shot into the net from a lying position. The Eagles pushed for a winner after that and both substitute Steven Zuber and Silva went close in stoppage time, but it finished 1-1.
Summary: Dominance not converted
SGE had around three quarters of the possession at Deutsche Bank Park but struggled to break down a disciplined and deep-lying Mainz side, who were clearly helped by the early goal. A point was the least Eintracht deserved and maintains their unbeaten record at home this season, but sees them drop out of the top four.
SGE line-up
Trapp – Tuta (Ilsanker 65’), Hasebe, Hinteregger – Durm (Chandler 65’), Sow (Younes 65’), Rode (Hrustic 29’), Kostic – Kamada (Zuber 71’) – Silva, Jovic
Goals
0-1 Onisiwo (11’)
1-1 Hrustic (85’)
