After the DFB Cup home win against Arminia Bielefeld, Eintracht had a couple more days to rest. Niko Kovac gave the players a day off on Thursday to get their mind off everything. Compared to Tuesday evening the starting formation looked a little different once more. David Abraham had to sit out his second match after his suspension. Bastian Oczipka moved from the left side to the center. Branimir Hrgota was given a chance as striker. Makoto Hasebe was back with the team and celebrated with his 235th Bundesliga appearance being the Japanese player on most league games.
First Shot on Goal Goes in
The first ten minutes of the game went by without much to say. Then, Michael Hector did not quite know what to do with the ball and hammered it into Freiburg’s half where it reached Ante Rebic. From Rebic the ball bounced to Branimir Hrgota, who waited a moment and then netted in from inside the box (11’). Just as in the match against Bielefeld Eintracht’s lead came early in the game.
Eintracht had two good chances to extend their lead, but Tawatha did not reach a cross from Chandler and Danny Blum missed the goal with his shot from inside the box (23’). Unfortunately, right after the double chance Freiburg scored the equalizer, when Niederlechner was set up with a pass in the center. Eintracht’s defense thought that the striker stood in an offside position, which wasn’t the case. Niederlechner dribbled around Hradecky and put the ball into the empty goal (25’).
Referee Becomes the Center of Attention
In the 34th minute referee Günther Perl became the center of attention. After a corner from the left, Ante Rebic was left alone and headed the ball into the net. Unfortunately, Perl saw a foul before the goal. Even after watching several replays the decision did not become understandable. After the debatable decision the focus of the game started to circle around the referee’s calls instead of interesting plays.
Overall, the Eagles were closer to scoring their second goal, but were not rewarded for their efforts.
Niederlechner Scores from an Offside Position
The second half took off right where the first one ended. After the kick-off the Eagles were in control of the match and pushed Freiburg into their own half. When this did not lead to any chances of note, Freiburg became more active and managed to turn the game around. Niederlechner was again set up in the center and lobbed the ball over Hradecky into the net. A nice goal, that should not have counted nonetheless. Niederlechner was in an offside position, when he got the ball. Günther Perl’s crew did not see this and let the goal count.
Niko Kovac reacted to the heavy setback by bringing on Aymen Barkok for Taleb Tawatha. But Eintracht’s chances to come back grew dimmer as Freiburg focussed on defending their lead and waited for counterattacks. Shani Tarashaj and Alex Meier were also sent in by Kovac, but had trouble coming through Freiburg’s massive defense. In the final minutes of the game the match went only one way.
What was missing were real chances, which the Eagles admittedly did not create. Therefore, the hosts could not make more out of an overall decent match. But the two decisions, which set the Eagles back in this game were too much to deal with on this Sunday afternoon.
