Eintracht Frankfurt secured all three points against the ten men of VfB Stuttgart thanks to a goal from Mario Götze, with the win seeing die Adler move themselves back into third place.
Deutsche Bank Park was rocking from the start, with both the home support and the 6,000-strong travelling Stuttgart fans creating an unbelievable atmosphere. A week on from Sebastian Hoeneß’s contract extension, Stuttgart looked to mark the occasion with a strong performance, and they nearly had the perfect start.
Just two minutes in, Jamie Leweling latched onto a delightful Chris Führich delivery, striking a sweet volley on target, but Eintracht goalkeeper Kaua Santos reacted well to keep it out. Moments later, Enzo Millot twisted and turned inside the box before dragging a left-footed effort wide in the 7th minute, as Stuttgart piled on early pressure.
Eintracht thought they had struck first in the 13th minute when Hugo Ekitike found the net, but the forward was clearly offside after winning an aerial duel against Finn Jeltsch.
The hosts grew into the game and came inches from an opener, first through Ansgar Knauff, who rounded Alexander Nübel only to see Maximilian Mittelstädt make a heroic recovery, clearing off the line. From the resulting corner, Eintracht came even closer, but a goalmouth scramble ended with Jeff Chabot producing another crucial goal-line block.
As the game continued at a relentless tempo, Eintracht took control before halftime. In the 36th minute, Nathaniel Brown’s strike from the right side of the box took a deflection off Ermedin Demirović, whistling just inches past the post. With Frankfurt in the ascendency heading into the break, the second half promised even more drama in a match played at breathless intensity.
Nnamdi Collins should have done better in the 50th minute as he attempted to take advantage of an empty net from distance following Hugo Ekitike catching out Stuttgart’s Alexander Nübel out near the touchline. The subsequent shot from Collins flew over the bar.
As the decibels somehow continued to rise inside Deutsche Bank Park, Stuttgart were simply unable to get into any form of rhythm in possession. And die Schwaben were marginally close to being punished as the lively Ekitike hit the post from the edge of the box, before Mario Götze hit the crossbar with his rebound.
Any chances of finding a rhythm were then made even slimmer when defender Ameen Al-Dakhil was shown a red card in the 57th minute for pulling down Ekitike who would have been through on goal.
With Frankfurt on top, and Stuttgart down to ten men for the second time in three Bundesliga outings, the visitors were set for a tough final 30 minutes.
Eventually, after 70 minutes, Eintracht opened the scoring after Mario Götze tapped home into an open goal following a Hugo Larsson shot that rebounded off the post and straight into the path of the experienced midfielder, who made amends after his earlier missed opportunity.
Arthur Theate put in a huge block to deny Deniz Undav in the 78th minute. After working so hard to get themselves ahead, Frankfurt simply had to avoid conceding late on.
To their credit, the ten men of Stuttgart remained stubborn as they looked to force opportunities. However, the numbers difference proved too steep of a hill for the visitors to climb.
Eintracht Frankfurt secured all three points to climb back up into third place in the Bundesliga, giving Dino Toppmöller’s side a huge boost regarding their Champions League fight as the season’s crunch point approaches.
