In what will be one of the more thrilling encounters of the weekend, Eintracht Frankfurt came from behind twice to draw Hertha BSC 3-3. Hertha took the lead first before Frankfurt scored twice before the halftime interval. Then, substitute Alexandre Esswein had a goal and an assist to make it 3-2. But late on, Frankfurt came back again to end an enthralling fixture at the Commerzbank-Arena.

Off of a free kick in the 18th minute, Marvin Plattenhardt sent a nice ball towards the far post. The delivery found Valentin Stocker who was fouled immediately inside the box. Vedad Ibisevic slotted his spot kick effort perfectly behind the Frankfurt goalkeeper.

In the 34th minute, Hertha created a half-chance that could have caused more trouble than it did. Mitchell Weiser played a pass to Genki Haraguchi at the post on the left. However, Haraguchi was not ready for the delivery and did not get a touch on the ball. Had he done so, and gotten an effort on frame, that could have been the away side’s second goal of the first half.

Frankfurt score in quick succession

Eintracht Frankfurt equalized with five minutes left in the first half off of a quick counter. Danny Blum used his pace to get behind a Hertha defense who got caught out by the set piece. Blum then played a fantastic ball to the Mexican international, Marco Fabian. The diminutive striker created space for himself before placing an excellent shot in behind Rune Jarstein.

After Frankfurt’s opening goal, momentum shifted towards the hosts. They dominated possession following the restart and took the most of their opportunities. In the 45th minute, Frankfurt capitalized on Hertha’s poor defending on a corner. A mishit from Ibisevic fell to a wide open Meier in the six yard box. The club captain made no mistake from that distance as he gave his club the lead right before the break.

Esswein makes Frankfurt pay

Managers win and lose matches with substitutions more time than not. And Pal Dardai’s halftime change, which saw a struggling Michael Pekarik being replaced by Alexander Esswein. Esswein chased a ball down towards the byline before sending a cross back towards the middle of the box. Ibisevic completed his brace when he volleyed his attempt home in the 58th minute to make it 2-2.

Vedad Ibisevic scored two goals in Hertha's 3-3 draw. | Photo: Getty Images
Vedad Ibisevic scored two goals in Hertha's 3-3 draw. | Photo: Getty Images

Alexander Esswein made the most of his 45 minute cameo for Hertha on Saturday. Seven minutes after his assist, the former Augsburg man scored a sensational goal. He was found on the left with a ball that switched the point of attack. Then, Esswein cut back to his left foot and curled a beautiful shot through traffic into the bottom left hand corner.

Chelsea loanee, Michael Hector, was playing as a makeshift forward for the last few minutes of the match out of desperation. That move though paid off deep in stoppage time. A cross found Hector and managed to direct the ball into past Jarstein to level that match for good.

Coming up

Eintracht Frankfurt will hit the road next week to take on SC Freiburg on Saturday evening. Meanwhile, Hertha will return home to play a struggling Hamburg side.

VAVEL Logo
About the author