With both sides sitting comfortably in mid-table, each were simply looking to finish their seasons as strong as possible, and a draw will do neither side any harm, although Hoffenheim in particular will come away from the game thinking that they could and should have earned all three points.
The game, which was taking place in the Rhein-Neckar Arena, was a slowburner, with neither creating much in terms of opportunities. Alexander Madlung skied the ball over the Hoffenheim bar early on. In the 35th minute, a long through ball over the Frankfurt defence gave Anthony Modeste a great opportunity, but his chip was too high. Two minutes later, Martin Lanig missed a gilt-edged opportunity after Djakpa's costless kick had been flicked on by Madlung. Jens Grahl saved Madlung's header, but the ball broke kindly for Lanig, who struck at straight at the big German goalkeeper. A real wasted opportunity which could have altered the fate of this fixture.
At half time, the deadlock had not been broken, but it was Frankfurt who were looking more likely to do so. However, Hoffenheim came out for the second half with a new lease of life, and dominated affairs, with the young German winger Kevin Volland at the heart of their most dangerous attacking play. On numerous occasions he played exquisite passes to his attacking partners, but first Modeste and then Firmino couldn't capitalise.
The game looked to be petering out until, in the eighty-first minute, Anthony Modeste was tripped by Kevin Trapp, and a penalty was given. Up stepped Roberto Firmino, only to be denied by Trapp, who dived low to his right to redeem himself. Brazilian Firmino done himself no favours, stepping up to the plate of ice cool Bosnian, Sejad Salihovic. The game turned ugly when Modeste kicked out at Zambrano after a tackle and was subsequently sent off, but all in all both sides will take a point and look to finish strong in their remaining games. The point has little significance for either side currently, as they have only pride to play for.