Atubolu starts in goal
Head coach Adi Hütter made three changes from the 11-0 win over St. Tönis in the DFB-Pokal. New signing Noah Atubolu went straight into the team, replacing Kaua Santos between the posts, while Jeremiaha Maluze replaced Otávio in the centre of defence and Farès Chaibi was preferred to Mario Götze.
Early blow
The match began with a shock for the Eagles. In the third minute, Emmanuel Latte Lath rose highest to meet Josip Juranovic’s corner and plant a header into the Frankfurt net from five metres.
Perfect response from Ebnoutalib
Despite trailing early, Eintracht were on top and levelled the score just seven minutes later. Union failed to clear a corner from Chaibi and Younes Ebnoutalib pounced to net the equaliser from close range.
From the subsequent kick-off, Leopold Querfeld miscontrolled the ball from Marin Ljubicic and Ebnoutalib again capitalised, running through on goal and making it 2-1 with a brace inside 60 seconds.
Ebnoutalib completes hat-trick
The visitors had the first opportunity of the second half, with Chaibi narrowly missing the target with a long-distance effort in the 57th minute.
Ten minutes later, Ebnoutalib did better as he took a rebound in the penalty area on the volley and fired in his and his team’s third goal of the afternoon.
Atubolu shines
The hosts upped the ante after that and created chances, but Eintracht debutant Atubolu did well to save a deflected shot from Livan Burcu (70’), an opportunity for Woo-Yeong Jeong (72’) and further attempts by Janik Haberer (76’) and Juranovic (78’).
Union fight back
However, the Eagles’ new number one was powerless to stop Querfeld’s free header reducing the deficit in the 79th minute. And the Berliners pushed on, increasing the pressure on Hütter’s men and eventually scoring the equaliser in the second minute of stoppage time through substitute Tim Starke.
