Ten-man Eagles salvage point | OneFootball

Sunday’s Rhine-Main derby between Mainz and Eintracht Frankfurt ended 1-1, with Omar Marmoush (90+1’) cancelling out Lee Jae-sung’s opener (25’) deep into second-half stoppage time.

Mainz edged the first half and took the lead when Lee broke the deadlock following a misunderstanding between Kevin Trapp and Hrvoje Smolcic. Eintracht’s hopes of finding a route back into the game were dealt a blow when Ansgar Knauff was sent off for a second bookable offence, but Marmoush fired home Éric Junior Dina Ebimbe’s cross to rescue a point for the visitors and maintain Eintracht’s unbeaten start to the campaign.

Four alterations

Dino Toppmöller made four changes to the side that drew 1-1 at PFC Levski Sofia in the UEFA Europa Conference League play-off on Thursday. Smolcic, Knauff, Kristijan Jakic and Philipp Max were all recalled to the starting XI, with Dina Ebimbe, Tuta, Aurélio Buta and Jens Petter Hauge dropping to the bench.

Mainz break deadlock

There were plenty of full-blooded challenges but few clear-cut goalscoring opportunities in the early stages at the MEWA Arena. Randal Kolo Muani, who netted his third goal of the season in Thursday’s draw in Bulgaria, almost picked out Marmoush in a rare opening for the visitors, but the summer signing lost his footing at the crucial moment and Mainz were able to clear.

Referee Bastian Dankert awarded the hosts a penalty after Nelson Weiper’s shot struck Robin Koch on the arm inside the area, but overturned his decision after reviewing the incident on his pitchside monitor. The Eagles’ reprieve lasted barely a minute, though, as Lee nodded into the unguarded net after Trapp had collided with Smolcic in the box. It could have been 2-0 on the stroke of half-time, but former Eintracht midfielder Dominik Kohr failed to hit the target from a tight angle.

Marmoush restores parity

The first clear opening of the second period fell Eintracht’s way, but Kolo Muani’s header from Marmoush’s delivery flew just wide of the upright. The Eagles’ task was made all the more difficult when Knauff, who had been cautioned four minutes after the restart, was shown a second yellow card shortly after the hour mark for a challenge on Leandro Barreiro.

Just as it looked like Eintracht were heading for a first defeat of the season, Dina Ebimbe beat Sepp van den Berg and Danny da Costa in magnificent fashion before picking out Marmoush, who fired home from close range to spark jubilant scenes among the away supporters.

SGE line-up

Trapp – Koch, Smolcic (Lenz 80’), Pacho – Knauff, Skhiri, Jakic (Buta 70’), Max (Ngankam 81’) – Götze (Aaronsen 83’), Marmoush – Kolo Muani (Dina Ebimbe 70’)

Goals 1-0 Lee (25’) 1-1 Marmoush (90+1’)

Red card

Knauff (61’)