Oliver Glasner again made three changes to his line-up following the defeat to Wolfsburg on Matchday 22. Timothy Chandler and Filip Kostic replaced Danny da Costa and Christopher Lenz in the wide positions, while Sebastian Rode came in for Daichi Kamada in midfield in a slightly more defensive system.
Chances at both ends
Eintracht made a lively start at the RheinEnergieSTADION, with Jesper Lindström in particular causing the Köln defence problems. The Dane first whipped an inviting ball across goal which Kostic very nearly got on the end of (7’), before setting up Rode for an even clearer chance, but his goalbound shot was blocked by Jonas Hector (9’).
The hosts then began to exert more pressure and Dejan Ljubicic forced Kevin Trapp into his first real save in the 17th minute. Shortly after, Salih Özcan headed over from a corner after Sebastian Andersson’s effort had been pushed behind at the near post by Trapp (26’). There was little in the way of goalscoring chances after that, although Rafael Borré did go close with a long-range strike (35’).
Modeste strikes late
The game continued in a scrappy fashion after the break, with much of the play centred in midfield and the defences giving little away. It wasn’t until the hour mark that either goalkeeper was called into action, Trapp parrying from Mark Uth’s volley from a tight angle. The hosts looked more likely to break the deadlock but the Eagles’ defence dealt well with what came their way, while Frankfurt went closest to scoring through a Köln player when substitute Kamada’s cross was almost diverted in (79’).
With the match seemingly heading for a goalless draw, the Billy Goats broke the deadlock. After a defensive error, the ball broke free for substitute Modeste, who raced through before coolly slotting it underneath Trapp (85’). Eintracht threw everything forward in response and Borré had a good chance with the very last kick of the evening, but it wasn’t to be as Glasner’s men went down to their second defeat in a row.
Summary: Decided by one moment
Throughout this hard-fought match it looked like one goal could win it, and so it proved. There would’ve been few complaints if it had ended goalless, but Eintracht didn’t get forward enough in the second half and in the end it was a moment of quality from Köln’s top scorer that made the difference.
SGE line-up
Trapp – Tuta (Lenz 90’), Hinteregger, Ndicka – Jakic – Chandler (da Costa 82‘), Sow, Rode (Kamada 46‘, Lammers 90’), Kostic – Lindström (Hauge 76‘), Borré
Goals
1-0 Modeste (84’)
