31. Matchday (14.04.2012, 13:00 Uhr)

4 : 0

Eintracht Frankfurt

  31. Matchday   2. Bundesliga

FC Erzgebirge Aue

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4-0 Win Full Of Promises

The Eagles dominated Erzgebirge Aue throughout the match and beat them 4-0 after goals of Meier (28'), Kittel (44'), Jung (54') and Köhler (83'). 46,600 celebrated a very important win which leaves Eintracht in spot two of the Bundesliga 2 standings.

Eintracht manager Armin Veh made two changes to the starting line-up of last Wednesday’s match: Karim Matmour and Sonny Kittel started instead of Benny Köhler and Jimmy Hoffer. The tactical formation changed to a 4-2-3-1 with Mo Idrissou as the lone striker.

Eintracht In Control

After a nervy situation five minutes into the match when Schildenfeld gave away the ball but made up for it by blocking Hochscheidt’s shot the Eagles took hold of the match. A header by Anderson (9’) went wide and one by Idrissou (14’) was saved by Aue keeper Männel.

Eintracht’s top scorer Alex Meier first should have been awarded a penalty when he was fouled by Rau, then he had three attempts within seven minutes. First his header was just off target (15‘), then he tried it with a sideways scissor-kick which was saved (21’) and his close range shot from the left was also controlled by Männel (22’).

Well Deserved Goals

Meier’s hard work paid off for him and the team when he scored the opener after 28 minutes. He skillfully controlled a long ball of Schildenfeld and finished from around the penalty spot, he is now on 17 goals and joint top scorer of the league.

Butscher (25’) and Rode (33’) had further attempts but did not find the net. Just before the half time whistle it was Meier again who received a flick-on by Idrissou and directly passed the ball on to Kittel. The youngster easily extended the lead (44’) to give the Eagles a 2-0 half time lead.

Second Half Show

And what a performance by Alex Meier it was who stood out in a team that showed a classy performance. Meier headed a Schwegler cross against the post after 50 minutes and Idrissou’s header was cleared off the line (53’). A minute later Rode showed great vision when his pass found Jung who entered the box with a skillful run, dummied the goalkeeper and hit home – 3-0! It was Rode's 11th assist this season with him being the top creator of the division.

Again Meier had a go minutes later but his shot went just wide (61’), and Jung’s deflected attempt did so too (67’). Then Matmour was free on goal after Kittel had set him up at the end of a counter attack, but Aue keeper Männel saved his attempt for a corner (70’).

Bend It Like Benny

The crowd celebrated the team on a great day for the Eagles, the Mexican wave continuously swept through the stands and chants about the departure from Bundesliga 2 echoed through the ground.

Benny Köhler had come on for Matmour and scored the fourth with a Beckham style free-kick in the top right corner of the goal to put the icing on the cake (83’). It was Köhler’s 9th of the season, his best tally since he joined Eintracht.

Promising Situation

It was an impressive performance by the Eagles (71% possession, 21 shots, 13 corners) who sent out a positive signal to the competition after the rather mediocre results in the recent games. Coming up next is the match away to Alemannia Aachen (Monday 23/04/2012 at 20.15h CET), team captain Pirmin Schwegler will be unavailable then as he was booked with his 5th yellow card. Eintracht are second in the standings on now 65 points and 73-30 goals, Düsseldorf (3rd on 57 points) and Paderborn (5th on 55) still have to play this round.

It is a promising situation for the Eagles and their supporters.

(Holger Ruhl)