Both were visibly exhausted, both gave it their all again on Sunday afternoon: TSG Hoffenheim avoided defeat very late in the 2-2 (0-1) draw against Eintracht Frankfurt. Hugo Ekitiké scored twice for Eintracht, Gift Orban and Marius Bülter in stoppage time were successful for TSG. While Frankfurt secured third place in the table, Hoffenheim climbed to 14th place.
Both teams went into the game with their Europa League games in their bones, but with different signs. While Eintracht are almost certain to reach the round of 16 of the competition with their 2-0 win against Budapest, Hoffenheim has little chance of progressing after their 2-3 win against Tottenham. In addition, the TSG team lost an important team strategist with their now injured goalkeeper Oliver Baumann.
The young Luca Philipp guarded the goal for Baumann – certainly a key position in the Hoffenheim game. Philipp hardly had to intervene at first, the best offensive scene of the opening phase belonged to the hosts: After a commotion in Eintracht’s penalty area, Adam Hložek thundered the ball from eight meters onto the left crossbar. Good luck for unity.
Eintracht is having a hard time, a penalty helps
Frankfurt was slow to get into the game. Dino Toppmöller’s team struggled on offense to assert themselves against the hard-defending TSG team. The young Can Uzun, a summer newcomer from Nuremberg, naturally had a difficult time as a replacement for the departed Omar Marmoush, and was not even close to the Egyptian in terms of speed. The first test for the new Hoffenheim keeper came after 20 minutes of play – but Hugo Ekitiké’s shot landed in the middle of Philipp’s arms.
Three minutes later, Kevin Akpoguma stepped on the Eintracht center forward’s Achilles tendon in the 16’s. Referee Sascha Stegemann was sent to the video screen and consequently awarded a penalty for Frankfurt. Ekitiké stayed cool and easily converted the ball down the right to make it 0-1 (26′). Around 15,000 Frankfurt fans who traveled with us had reason to celebrate.
Eintracht passive, TSG more courageous
The Hessians now controlled the game, but hardly really played forward. They moved towards passivity on the edge, which somehow brought the struggling Hoffenheim team back into the game. After 38 minutes, Max Moerstedt had a shot chance from four meters, but it was blocked. The same thing happened to Tom Bischof, whose deflected 16-meter attempt almost failed.
Two minutes before the half-time whistle, Anton Stach’s shot from eleven meters landed not in the Frankfurt box, but next to it. Frankfurt’s half-time performance was flattering.
Hoffenheim committed, Marmoush is missing from Eintracht
There were hardly any significant changes in the second section either. Hoffenheim more agile, more committed, Frankfurt more cautious. In the 53rd minute it took a great reflex from keeper Kevin Trapp to prevent the equalizer. Stach had fired hard into the near corner from eleven meters – Trapp was there.
The Toppmöller team needed a real counterattack threat in this phase – but the team didn’t bring it onto the pitch. Speed and ball security were lacking. It seems to be gradually becoming clear how much Marmoush’s departure has weakened this team.
Hlozek prepares – Orban scores
The deserved equalizer seemed to have come in the 60th minute: Hlozek got ahead of Hugo Larsson on the counterattack and scored past Trapp from 14 meters. However, the hit did not stand up to video review. The Hoffenheim player had started just offside. Five minutes later the time had come: Hlozek prepared brilliantly again, passing it across to Gift Orban, who had just been substituted, who made it 1-1 (65th).
Things now threatened to go that way for Eintracht. In the 70th minute, Andre Kramaric failed to hit Frankfurt’s empty goal after another top assist from Hlozek. In return, the knockout blow for Hoffenheim: Rasmus Kristensen evaded Tom Bischof on the right side and passed it across to Ekitiké, who fired in from five meters to make it 1-2 (72′). But that wasn’t a victory for Eintracht, because Hoffenheim hadn’t given up yet. In the fourth minute of stoppage time, Marius Bülter scored the deserved and celebrated 2-2 equalizer after great work from Kramaric.
Both busy again in the Europa League
Both teams will be busy again in the Europa League next Thursday. Accordingly, there will be another Sunday game in the Bundesliga for both of them. Hoffenheim then has to go to Leverkusen (5.30 p.m.). Two hours earlier, Frankfurt kicks off against VfL Wolfsburg.