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Battling Eagles beaten 1-0
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- Battling Eagles beaten 1-0
Battling Eagles beaten 1-0
Eintracht Frankfurt matched Borussia Dortmund for long spells but a late Maximilian Beier goal clinched victory for last season's runners-up.
Two changesAdi Hütter made two changes to his line-up for the trip to Signal-Iduna-Park, with Elias Baum and Noel Aseko replacing Keita Kosugi and Mario Götze. Captain Robin Koch made his 100th Bundesliga appearance in an Eintracht shirt. Atubolu in fine formThe crowd saw a high-intensity and attacking game from both sides from the start. In the 15th minute, Noah Atubolu was called into action for the first time, when he saved a goalbound long-range effort from Serhou Guirassy. Soon after that, Atubolu again denied Guirassy one-on-one with a reflex save.
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Chance for BurkardtShortly before the half-hour mark, Eintracht had their best opportunity of the game until that point. Aseko played in Jonathan Burkardt nicely, but the striker fired just wide of the BVB goal from 16 metres. At the other end, Daniel Svensson's strike deflected onto the crossbar.The fast-paced action continued as Gregor Kobel prevented Younes Ebnoutalib from scoring for the Eagles. On the stroke of half-time, Atubolu tipped Felix Nmecha's effort behind to keep it goalless at the break.
Chaibi tests KobelWithin moments of the restart, Farès Chaibi unleashed a powerful drive towards the Dortmund goal, which Kobel turned over the bar. At the other end, Guirassy also hit the woodwork with a header from close range. Late sucker punchDortmund increased the pressure on the Frankfurt goal after that, but the Eagles' defence largely held firm. That was until the 80th minute, though, when Maximilian Beier curled the ball into the right corner beyond Atubolu's reach from the edge of the area.Eintracht threw everything forward in the closing stages but couldn't find a way back into the game and had to concede a narrow 1-0 defeat.
