After four years and eight games without a win against VfB Stuttgart the Eagles celebrated a 2-1 away win today. Gekas scored with a header in minute 18 after some big chances of VfB Stuttgart. Despite heavy pressure by the opponent Eintracht kept their cool and showed a rock solid performance throughout the game. They got over the tricky period in the first half when Stuttgart tried to overcome their poor start to the season - the defeat today was their sixth of seven games so far.
Especially in the second half the Eagles showed a convincing and confident game, always present, always focussed, at least until around the 80th minute. They did not settle with the 1-0 lead, they attacked and scored a well deserved second goal when Chris headed in after 68 minutes. No player was outstanding but the team looked like a real unit. A few examples: goalie Oka Nikolov had some very good saves, youngster Sebastian Jung defended convincingly (second most ball touches - 78), Tsavellas (most touches - 81), Gekas (four shots) and Altintop (one assists, four chances created) were always a threat, and Chris and Schwegler kept everything together in midfield.
Just when everyone thought nothing special would happen anymore in this game, Stuttgart's captain Delpierre was sent off after a very harsh foul on Patrick Ochs (84'). A minute later Progrebnyak scored and suddenly the 'diva of the river Main' as Eintracht is called showed her face like back in the days. Some confusion was in the team all of a sudden, and Cacau scored in the 90th minute but was called offside - a debatable decision. Some bad luck with controversial refereeing in the first games of the season seems to turn around for Eintracht.
Despite the dramatic finish it was a deserved win for the Eagles against a strong Stuttgart team (12 players in the squad who play for their country), with Gekas scoring his fifth goal of the season (in seven games) for Eintracht. Sonny Kittel had his sixth appearance this season after he came on in minute 88 - with 17 years of age he's currently the youngest player in Bundesliga and the 16th youngest in the league's history since 1963. Both goal scorers of the last Eintracht win v Stuttgart four years ago also came into the game - Alex Meier and Ioannis Amanatidis.
Things are looking up and if the Eagles continue to play like they did during most of the game today there's no need to worry. This win will give the team a boost and we're eagerly awaiting the next game away to 1. FC Kaiserlautern two weeks away, on Sunday the 17th of October (15.30h CET). You can follow this 'South West derby' in the live ticker on www.eintracht.de and it will also be internationally broadcasted on foreign TV channels.
