Capacity crowd, comprehensive win

Igor Matanovic and summer signing Hugo Larsson were handed their first starts in Eintracht colours as head coach Dino Toppmöller fielded a team containing a blend of youth and experience. Mario Götze was absent with a cold, while Davis Bautista and Jessic Ngankam were in attendance but not included in the match squad.

Hauge and Matanovic impress

Jens Petter Hauge was particularly lively early on, forcing Braunfels goalkeeper Fabian Engelhard into a fine save before Matanovic headed in the resulting corner. The Norwegian lobbed the ball over the onrushing Engelhard to double the Eagles’ lead, and Timmy Chandler slotted in Eintracht’s third on the rebound after Larsson had tested the keeper’s reflexes from the edge of the area.

Davide Luciani pulled one back for Braunfels – much to the delight of the home supporters – after Jens Grahl had parried the ball into the 22-year-old’s path, but Matanovic finished off a flowing Eagles move to restore the visitors’ three-goal advantage before Hauge’s second of the game made it 5-1 at the interval.

No let-up for Braunfels

Robin Koch and Ellyes Skhiri were brought on for their debuts as Toppmöller made 11 changes at half-time, but the Eagles refused to take their foot off the gas. Aaronson made it 6-1 within ten minutes of the restart, with efforts from Ragnar Ache and Skhiri increasing the Eagles’ advantage even further. Aaronson soon grabbed his second of the game, finishing another fine move involving Aurélio Buta.

Éric Junior Dina Ebimbe slotted home Ache’s low cross to net Eintracht’s tenth of the afternoon, and Christopher Lenz got in on the act from the penalty spot after Harpreet Ghotra had been fouled by Mossawar Barakzai. Aaronson completed his hat-trick before teeing up Ache for the striker’s second, with late goals from the American and Dina Ebimbe completing the scoring.

Head coach Dino Toppmöller: “We've had an intense week of training which has taken a lot out of the lads, physically and mentally. If you take that into account, today was a very decent display. The lads performed well and wanted to show what they can do. It's important that we start playing to our principles. We wanted to see pro-activity and goals, and that’s just what we got. Overall, it was a satisfying day. Aside from the decent performance, we have no injuries to complain about and the spectators got their money's worth too. A friendly like this is always a great training session for us, regardless of the quality of the opposition. Games featuring 11 against 11 on a full-size pitch are a great way to practice our game. We have to keep it up now.”