Head coach Oliver Glasner again opted for a 3-4-2-1 formation, with a back three consisting of Evan Ndicka, Martin Hinteregger and Tuta. Up front, new signing Rafael Borré led the line on his first outing in an Eintracht shirt.
New signings on target
With 10,000 fans allowed at the Deutsche Bank Park, the Eagles made a suitably energetic start and took the lead after 12 minutes. Borré’s volley from Danny da Costa’s right-wing cross was parried by Saint-Étienne goalkeeper Etienne Green, but fellow summer signing Christopher Lenz followed up to fire in the rebound.
Daichi Kamada could have made it 2-0 in the 37th minute when he was presented with a gilt-edged opportunity from Aymen Barkok’s low delivery, but he flicked the ball wide from close range. Eintracht did get their second goal just a few minutes later, though. Kamada was bundled over in the box, resulting in a clear penalty, which Borré confidently tucked away to give the Eagles a two-goal lead at the interval.
Subdued second half
Similar to the previous friendlies, the second half was a quieter affair, with the number of substitutions affecting the flow of the game. The French visitors enjoyed more of the play than in the first half but didn’t really threaten Kevin Trapp’s goal until the 74th minute, when Timothée Kolodziejczak headed in from a corner to reduce the deficit.
Eintracht’s only notable effort came in the final minute of regular time, when Steven Zuber clipped the ball just wide, but it didn’t matter as the Eagles made it three wins from five friendlies.
Head coach Oliver Glasner: “The nicest thing was that the fans are back. I got goosebumps before the game. I’m very pleased, I liked a lot of the things that I saw. We had a lot of good moments, were very variable, scored brilliant goals, had very good positional play and movement between the lines, and kept the opposition at bay for a long time. We were a bit careless for the first 10 minutes after half-time and let the opposition come at us by giving away the ball three or four times. There it’s about maintaining concentration. Despite the good performances, we’ll continue to look at things critically and prioritise the development of our football. In general I’m happy that I have selection headaches in a lot of positions.”
SGE line-up
Trapp - Tuta (Chandler 76’), Hinteregger (Ilsanker 62’), Ndicka (Irorere 76’) - da Costa (Durm 46’), Hasebe (Hyryläinen 76’), Sow (Zuber 46’), Lenz (Kostic 62’) - Kamada (Younes 62’), Barkok (Otto 62’) - Borré (Paciencia 62’)
Goals
1-0 Lenz (12’)
2-0 Borré (41’ pen)
2-1 Kolodziejczak (74’)
