Bayer 04 drop points in Frankfurt

Schmidt made three changes to the side that faced CSKA on Wednesday; Tin Jedvaj, Charles Aránguiz and Julian Baumgartlinger replaced Wendell, Hakan Calhanoglu and Lars Bender.

After problems at the start against a courageous, defensively solid and confident Frankfurt side Bayer 04 grew stronger as the game went on. The travelling Werkself fans had to wait 20 minutes for the first decent chance of the game: an intelligent pass from Kevin Kampl to the left of the box found Admir Mehmedi who fired in a shot that flew just past the far post on 25 minutes. Bayer 04 looked to have the upper hand even if the better goalscoring opportunities fell to Eintracht in a first half of few chances.

Volland and Calhanoglu provide a lift

The match improved considerably in the second half as both sides pressed forward with greater determination. The Werkself looked sharper but suffered the first setback on 53 minutes. A cross from Frankfurt's Marco Fabian found Alex Meier in the six-yard box and he reacted instantly to hit the ball into the roof of the net to give the hosts the lead. The Werkself struggled and were a bit lucky as Haris Seferovic (55' ) and Mijat Gacinovic (57') missed the chance to extend the lead for the hosts.

The double substitution of Calhanoglu and Kevin Volland on 57 minutes gave the Werkself a lift. And the latter played a big part in equaliser when he put through a great pass to Chicharito from the left wing. The Mexican had little problem in rounding the Frankfurt keeper Lukas Hradecky to level the scores at 1-1 on the hour mark. Three minutes later Calhanoglu had a great chance to give Bayer 04 the lead but Hradecky pulled off a save. Volland then went on to miss two chances (67', 71’) and Kampl hit the top of the bar after a great lay-off from Chicharito on 75 minutes.

Woodwork for the fifth time this season

Play went from end to end after that but mostly in the direction of the Frankfurt goal. Eintracht also had chances but they were not as clear-cut as Bayer 04’s. The second goal for Eintracht on 79 minutes came out of the blue; Bastian Oczipka put substitute Ante Rebic through in the box and he squared the ball to Fabian. The Frankfurt midfielder made no mistake from close range leaving Bernd Leno with no chance – 2-1 for Eintracht Frankfurt.

Bayer 04 pressed forward in search of an equaliser. A counter-attack involving Kampl and Calhanoglu ended with Julian Brandt in a one-on-one with Hradecky in the box. He was brought down by Timothy Chandler as he was about to shoot. There was no argument about the penalty award. Chicharito ran up, sent Hradecky the wrong way, but his spot kick hit the left hand post and the chance to earn a deserved equaliser went begging. A bitter blow. It was the fifth time the Werkself of hit the woodwork this season. Bayer 04 were unable to score a second goal in the closing minutes meaning the Schmidt team left Frankfurt empty-handed.

Match stats

Eintracht Frankfurt: Hradecky - Oczipka, Vallejo, Abraham, Chandler - Fabian, Hassebe - Gacinovic (Rebic 62’), Huszti, Seferovic (Mascarell 68’), Meier (Hrgota 78’)

Bayer 04: Leno - Jedvaj (Wendell 85’), Tah, Toprak, Henrichs - Baumgartlinger (Calhanoglu 57’), Aránguiz - Mehmedi (Volland 57’), Kampl, Brandt - Chicharito.

Goals: 1-0 Meier (53’), 1-1 Chicharito (60’), 2-1 Fabian (79’)

Referee: Christian Dingert (Lebecksmühle)

Booked: Fabian, Chandler

Attendance: 45,000