Eagles recover to claim point | OneFootball

Can Uzun scored a late equaliser (81’) as Eintracht Frankfurt and VfL Wolfsburg played out a 1-1 draw at Deutsche Bank Park on Sunday afternoon.

Eintracht lost Robin Koch to injury in a goalless first half, before Tuta deflected a Mohammed Amoura effort into the net to give Wolfsburg the lead five minutes after the restart. Hugo Ekitiké was denied by the woodwork with a quarter of an hour left, but Uzun headed home with nine minutes remaining to earn Dino Toppmöller’s side a share of the spoils.

Four changes

The Eagles’ starting XI featured four alterations from Thursday’s Europa League defeat at Roma. Nnamdi Collins, Oscar Højlund, Nathaniel Brown and Mario Götze were all restored, replacing Rasmus Kristensen, Hugo Larsson, Jean-Mattéo Bahoya and Farès Chaibi. Striker Igor Matanovic was ruled out of Sunday’s game with a foot injury.

Koch forced off

In a difficult opening for the home side, Joakim Maehle went close to giving Wolfsburg an early lead when he fired Tiago Tomas’ delivery narrowly over the crossbar, before Koch was forced off after landing awkwardly on his left shoulder following an aerial challenge with Jonas Wind. Kristensen was brought on in the centre-back’s stead with just 15 minutes on the clock.

Other than an early Ansgar Knauff shot which flew straight at Kamil Grabara, the Eagles struggled to test the Wolves goalkeeper before the interval. Mattias Svanberg sent a tame effort into Kevin Trapp’s arms in another promising opening for the visitors just after the half-hour mark, but there was nothing to separate the two teams at half-time.

Uzun salvages point

Wolfsburg made the livelier start to the second half and took the lead when Amoura beat Tuta to Wind’s flick-on and prodded the ball beyond the onrushing Trapp, via a deflection off the Brazilian centre-back. The Eagles almost fashioned an instant reply, but Arthur Theate – who turned his Eintracht loan move permanent earlier on Sunday – was denied by a brilliant Grabara save after meeting Brown’s outswinging cross with a firm header.

Grabara was forced off with an apparent thigh injury not long afterwards, with 31-year-old Marius Müller replacing the Polish custodian. The Bundesliga debutant was relieved to see a thumping Ekitiké drive from a tight angle cannon back off the crossbar with 15 minutes remaining, but two of Eintracht’s second-half substitutes combined to devastating effect six minutes later as Uzun nodded Bahoya’s pinpoint cross into the net from close range.

Fellow substitute Niels Nkounkou almost snatched a late winner for the home side moments later but steered his shot narrowly over the bar after latching on to a loose ball just inside the box. Eintracht remain in third place, five points ahead of Leipzig in fourth.