Eagles beaten at home by Union | OneFootball

Eintracht led at half-time thanks to Michy Batshuayi’s first goal for the club but ended up slipping to a 2-1 defeat against Union Berlin.

Batshuayi’s composed finish gave Dino Toppmöller’s side an early lead, only for Leopold Querfeld to head the visitors level shortly after the hour mark. Jeong Woo-yeong’s late effort ultimately proved decisive, but Hugo Ekitiké missed the chance to salvage a point for the Eagles when his stoppage-time penalty was saved by former Eintracht goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow.

Theate suffers injury in warm-up

Toppmöller was forced into a last-minute change after defender Arthur Theate suffered a muscle injury during the warm-up. The Belgian was replaced in the starting XI by Farès Chaibi, with teenager Noah Fenyö a late call-up to the bench.

There were four other changes to the Eagles side that started Thursday’s victory over AFC Ajax in the UEFA Europa League last 16. Oscar Højlund, Nathaniel Brown, Can Uzun and Batshuayi were recalled in place of Ansgar Knauff, Mario Götze, Ekitiké and Thursday’s match-winner Ellyes Skhiri, who missed out through suspension after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season against Bayer 04 Leverkusen last weekend.

Perfect start

The Eagles picked up where they left off in Amsterdam, taking the lead with just 13 minutes on the clock when Rasmus Kristensen’s shot from the edge of the area was deflected off Querfeld into the path of Batshuayi, who found the bottom corner. Andrej Ilić rifled a shot into the side-netting in Union’s first chance, before Chaibi’s looping header was tipped over the bar at the other end by Rönnow.

Toppmöller’s charges continue to control proceedings without peppering the Union goal. Rönnow had to be on his toes to prevent Querfeld’s attempted clearance from looping into his own net, before Chaibi sent an effort off target after linking up well with Brown, Uzun and Hugo Larsson on the edge of the box.

Union fight back

Ilic headed a Christopher Trimmel free-kick well wide of the target early in the second half, but Union were level when Querfeld rose highest to head Trimmel’s corner into the net on 62 minutes. Eintracht responded well and moments after Trimmel had denied second-half substitute Ekitiké with a last-ditch tackle, Kristensen rifled a powerful strike against the outside of the post from a tight angle.

Union continued to pose a threat at the other end, though, and went in front for the first time when Jeong kept his composure to send a low shot into the far corner. The visitors were denied a third when Benedict Hollerbach’s close-range effort was disallowed for handball in the build-up – a decision which gave Ekitiké the opportunity to rescue a share of the spoils after Danilho Doekhi had handled in the area. The Frenchman’s effort was well struck, but Rönnow was equal to it as Eintracht missed the chance to move back above third-placed 1. FSV Mainz 05 in the Bundesliga standings.