Battling draw in Berlin | OneFootball

The Eagles took a first-half lead through Mario Götze at Union Berlin on Sunday, but conceded an equaliser and had Arthur Theate sent off after the break in a hard-earned 1-1 draw.

Head coach Dino Toppmöller made six changes to his side following the 1-0 win over FC RFS in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday. Arthur Theate, Ellyes Skhiri, Hugo Larsson, Ansgar Knauff, Mario Götze and Hugo Ekitiké all came into the starting line-up, with Aurele Amenda, Mahmoud Dahoud, Eric Junior Dina Ebimbe, Can Uzun, Igor Matanovic and Niels Nkounkou making way – the latter absent from the squad entirely due to an allergic reaction.

Götze on target in milestone appearance The Eagles served notice of their intent early on as Knauff and Götze got forward and teased crosses into the box, but couldn’t pick out a team-mate. Union had only conceded four goals in the Bundesliga this season at kick-off – the second-best record in the league after RB Leipzig’s two – but their resistance was broken inside the first quarter of an hour when an Omar Marmoush corner caused havoc inside the home penalty area. The ball eventually found its way to the unmarked Götze, who tapped in from close range to mark his 300thBundesliga appearance with a goal.

Far from sitting back on their lead, the Eagles continued to push for another goal but struggled to get behind a resolute home rearguard. In fact, it was Union who had the next chance of the game when Yorbe Vertessen’s dipping half-volley from 25 yards brought Kevin Trapp into action for the first time, the Eintracht captain diving low to his left to keep it out. The teams largely cancelled each other out in midfield for the remainder of the half, in which Toppmöller was forced to bring on Dina Ebimbe for the injured Rasmus Kristensen.

Eventful second half Union, victorious in all three of their prior home games this term, started the second half strongly as they sought to extend that sequence. Tom Rothe fired wide within moments of the restart, Christopher Trimmel struck the post with a low drive from just outside the penalty area and Benedikt Hollerbach arguably should have done better from close range when connecting with a cross from the right.

Just when it appeared that Eintracht had weathered the storm, however, Union equalised. Following a spate of substitutions from both teams, Robert Skov attacked down the right and slid a pass through to Hollerbach, who chipped the ball over the onrushing Trapp to level the score. Eintracht’s hopes of replying with a goal of their own were dealt a blow a short while later when Theate was sent off after harshly being shown a second yellow card following a tackle with Tim Skarke. The same Union attacker was involved again in stoppage time when he thought he had won the game with a rasping close-range effort past Trapp, only for it to be disallowed by VAR for offside in the build-up. Defeat would have been undeserved for Eintracht in a battling team display, with a draw a fair result on the balance of play.