All square in Brussels | OneFootball

Eintracht raced into an early 2-0 lead through Farès Chaibi and Sasa Kalajdzic but were pegged back by Union Saint-Gilloise.

The Eagles began their UEFA Europa Conference League knockout play-off first leg with purpose and dominated the first half, but their Belgian hosts responded after the break to keep the tie finely poised.

Four changes for Eintracht Dino Toppmöller brought in four new faces to his starting line-up following the draw with VfL Bochum at the weekend, with Kevin Trapp returning in goal and Jens Grahl dropping to the bench. Tuta and Niels Nkounkou came back after domestic suspensions while Sasa Kalajdzic, who recently became a father, took Ansgar Knauff’s place in attack.

Dominant visitors Toppmöller’s charges immediately made it clear that they meant business and were determined to seal a place in the last 16, going on the front foot from the outset. Their pressure took its toll as early as the third minute when Nkounkou drove forward down the left and cut the ball back for Kalajdzic. His shot was blocked, but Chaibi was well placed to nudge the rebound over the line.  It soon got even better for the Eagles, who doubled their advantage with a blistering counter-attack. Omar Marmoush led the charge down the right before sliding the ball forward to Chaibi, who spotted the unmarked Kalajdzic in the centre and set him up for a simple tap-in. Yet while Eintracht dominated the first half and created several other good opportunities, Union reduced the deficit out of the blue through Mathias Rasmussen.

Hosts fight back That goal gave the home side the encouragement they needed to mount a comeback after the interval, with Eintracht forced to defend deep inside their own half for long spells. Gustaf Nilsson twice went close, first heading over the bar from close range following a free-kick before seeing an acrobatic volley well saved by Trapp. There was nothing the Eintracht goalkeeper could do about Nilsson’s next effort though, as he raced into the box to collect a through-ball before dinking it into the net. That set up a tense finale as both sides sought to take an advantage into the second leg. Union were reduced to 10 men shortly before the end when Charles Vanhoutte was sent off for a second bookable offence, but Toppmöller’s men could not make their numerical advantage count, leaving the tie on a knife edge ahead of the return leg in Frankfurt next week.