Jessic Ngankam missed a penalty for the Eagles before Larsson opened his account for the club late in the first half, sending a magnificent right-footed drive into the bottom corner. Knauff completed the scoring moments after entering the fray to lift Dino Toppmöller’s side three points above their opponents in the Bundesliga table.
Eintracht freshen things up
Toppmöller made three changes to the Eagles team that suffered a late defeat at PAOK in the Europa Conference League on Thursday. Philipp Max, Aurélio Buta and Ngankam were restored to the line-up in place of Niels Nkounkou, Jens Petter Hauge and Knauff, all of whom were named among the substitutes. Éric Junior Dina Ebimbe was absent from the matchday squad due to a minor issue.
Larsson drills Eagles ahead
The home side thought they had won a penalty after just three minutes when Farès Chaibi’s cross appeared to strike the arm of Tim Siersleben inside the area, but referee Daniel Schlager overturned his original decision following a review by the video assistant referee. The resulting free-kick came to nothing, but Eintracht continued to look the more likely scorers as the half went on.
They were eventually awarded a penalty for Kevin Müller’s foul on Omar Marmoush, only for Ngankam to send his effort over the crossbar. The striker’s blushes were spared nine minutes later by Larsson, whose low shot from the edge of the box flew past goalkeeper Müller and nestled in the bottom corner.
Knauff puts result beyond doubt
Willian Pacho headed wide from a Chaibi corner five minutes into the second half before Tim Kleindienst spurned a glorious chance to put Heidenheim back on level terms, scuffing his shot wide after getting on the end of Jan-Niklas Beste’s cross. Ellyes Skhiri should have doubled the Eagles’ lead after fine work from substitute Knauff, but the Eagles did not have to wait long to extend their advantage.
Just two minutes after Skhiri’s golden opportunity, substitute Nacho let Buta’s pass run through to Knauff, who sent a composed finish beyond Müller for his first goal of the campaign. Kevin Trapp denied Adrian Beck with a fantastic stop five minutes later, but there was no way back for Heidenheim as Toppmöller’s side delivered the perfect response to their recent defeats by Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga and PAOK in Europe.
SGE line-up
Trapp – Tuta, Koch, Pacho – Buta, Larsson (Hasebe 90’), Skhiri, Max (Nkounkou 78’) – Chaibi (Smolcic 90’), Marmoush (Nacho 66’) – Ngankam (Knauff 66’)
Goals
1-0 Larsson (39’)
2-0 Knauff (73’)
