Draw in London | OneFootball

Hugo Ekitiké’s early opener was cancelled out by Pedro Porro as Eintracht’s Europa League quarter-final first leg at Tottenham Hotspur ended 1-1.

Dino Toppmöller made just one change to his line-up following the 2-0 Bundesliga defeat at Werder Bremen on Saturday, with Rasmus Kristensen recalled at right-back in place of Nnamdi Collins.

Ekitiké stunner cancelled out

With around 3,000 travelling fans creating a great atmosphere inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Eagles made a flying start. From the first attack after six minutes, Hugo Ekitiké received the ball from Ellyes Skhiri on the left and cut inside before firing through a cluster of bodies into the bottom far corner – his fourth goal of the Europa League campaign and first from outside the box.

Tottenham recovered from that early shock and began to gain a foothold in the game. After a number of set pieces that failed to trouble the Eintracht defence, the hosts equalised in the 26th minute when James Maddison squared the ball for Pedro Porro, who beat Kauã Santos with a clever flick. Things settled down after that as both teams had spells of possession, without creating any real chances. That was until the final minute of the half, when Arthur Theate’s pass rolled through to Ekitiké but he was unable to generate enough power on the finish.

Eagles soak up pressure

The match continued in a similar pattern after the restart, with Spurs enjoying most of the possession but Eintracht always looking a threat on the counter. Jean-Mattéo Bahoya had the Eagles’ first opening but chose to pass to Ekitiké instead of go for goal, and Tottenham were able to clear.

The Londoners then had a flurry of chances inside the space of four minutes, with Lucas Bergvall striking the upright with a long-range drive and then Heung-min Son’s effort being tipped behind by Santos at full stretch. From the resulting corner, Rodrigo Bentancur’s header rebounded off the bar before James Maddison forced another good stop from Santos.

Having survived that spell of pressure, Eintracht came back into it and Bahoya had another opportunity on 63 minutes, heading over from Mario Götze’s cross. Spurs continued to dominate possession but the Eagles dug in and defended the wave of crosses and set pieces into their box, with Santos making another brilliant save at the death to tip Micky van de Ven’s header over the bar, ensuring his team take a draw back to Frankfurt for the second leg in a week’s time.