Goalless draw against Union | OneFootball

Eintracht had to settle for a point against Union Berlin at Deutsche Bank Park despite a dominant second-half performance.

Head coach Dino Toppmöller made just one change from the team that started in the 3-1 defeat at Borussia Dortmund before the international break. Hugo Larsson was not passed fit after returning from international duty early with a knock, so Hugo Ekitiké came in for his second start in an Eintracht shirt, which saw Mario Götze drop back into defensive midfield.

Slow to get going

The visitors had the first sniff of goal after just three minutes when Yorbe Vertessen ran onto a long goal kick from ex-Eintracht keeper Frederik Rönnow, but under pressure he couldn’t hit the target. Eintracht had the majority of the possession but it was the visitors who looked the more threatening in the first 20 minutes, with Brenden Aaronson – brother of Frankfurt’s Paxten – volleying wide.

However, the Eagles then began to get a foothold in the game and gradually increased the pressure on the Berliners’ well-organised backline. Shortly after the half-hour mark, Omar Marmoush had a free kick in a promising position but unfortunately slipped as he took it, scooping his effort over. The rest of the first half was almost entirely played in the Union half, but Eintracht were unable to find the final pass they needed to break the deadlock.

Eintracht frustrated

Toppmöller made a change at the break, taking off the booked Niels Nkounkou for Philipp Max. The first chance of the second period fell to Union, though, when Mikkel Kaufmann intercepted a risky back-pass by Ellyes Skhiri and ran through, but the Dane could only find the side netting.

Patience was required from Eintracht and they fashioned their best chance of the game so far on 57 minutes, when Ekitiké beat his man before being denied by the leg of Rönnow at the near post. That was the start of a spell of pressure from Frankfurt. Marmoush also forced a save from Rönnow, before the Egyptian dragged a ball across goal which Tuta nearly diverted in. A couple of minutes later, nobody in a black shirt could get on the end of Junior Dina Ebimbe’s teasing delivery into the box.

Union boss Nenad Bjelica reacted with a triple substitution but the Eintracht attacks kept coming. Dina Ebimbe’s shot was cleared off the line as the ball just wouldn’t go in for the hosts. It was virtually one-way traffic, with the visitors only rarely threatening on the break. Kevin Trapp was called on to thwart Rani Khedira from a corner in the 78th minute, although it would’ve been disallowed for offside.

After a brief reprieve in the Frankfurt pressure, Robin Koch headed wide from a cross from substitute Farès Chaibi, who himself then fired wide. Götze’s powerful shot in added time was straight at Rönnow as Union held on for the point.