Defeat in Leipzig | OneFootball

Nathaniel Brown’s first-half effort was not enough for Eintracht as they lost 2-1 at Leipzig on Sunday evening.

Benjamin Šeško gave Leipzig the lead after a period of heavy pressure from the home side, but the Eagles responded well and equalised through Brown’s third goal of the season. Lois Openda restored the hosts’ advantage, however, and this time Eintracht were unable to recover as they missed the chance to move back up to second in the Bundesliga table.

Marmoush and Brown restored

Dino Toppmöller rang the changes in Leipzig, making five alterations to the Eagles side that started Thursday’s 3-2 defeat at Olympique Lyon in the UEFA Europa League. Brown, Rasmus Kristensen, Hugo Larsson, Can Uzun and in-form Omar Marmoush were restored to the team, replacing Nnamdi Collins, Mario Götze, Niels Nkounkou, Farès Chaibi and the injured Tuta.

Eagles recover after bright Leipzig start

Kevin Trapp’s net was bulging inside the opening minute of Sunday’s match, but Christoph Baumgartner’s effort was ruled out for offside against Openda in the build-up. Leipzig continued to dominate and Trapp did magnificently to save another Baumgartner strike midway through the first half, only for Šeško to beat the Eintracht custodian to the rebound and send a towering header into the unguarded net.

Šeško was denied a second moments later by another fantastic Trapp save, but the Eagles burst into life on the half-hour mark and created a flurry of opportunities of their own. Hugo Ekitiké fired wide on the rebound after Maarten Vandevoordt had saved Larsson’s powerful drive, before Marmoush curled a well-struck free-kick against the crossbar from the edge of the area.

Toppmöller’s charges were rewarded for their late first-half pressure five minutes before the interval, when Brown’s fizzing drive from Uzun’s clever flick struck the inside of the far post and nestled in the opposite corner of the net. The 21-year-old has either scored or assisted a goal in each of his last three away appearances for Eintracht in the Bundesliga.

Openda wins it for hosts

Leipzig restored their narrow lead just six minutes into the second half. Nicolas Seiwald’s corner was flicked towards the far post by Baumgartner, and Openda was in the right place at the right time to volley home from close range. Yet again, Eintracht recovered well as Marmoush shot narrowly wide from Arthur Theate’s ball before Ansgar Knauff poked agonisingly past the post following a weaving run.

The contest continued to ebb and flow as the second half went on, Kevin Kampl firing off target at the other end moments after Knauff’s effort. Trapp kept his team in the game with another fine stop to thwart Antonio Nusa, but Chaibi’s late, wayward effort was the closest Eintracht came to salvaging a draw.