Kalimuendo on target in home win | OneFootball

Arnaud Kalimuendo scored the only goal of the game early in the second half as Eintracht earned a narrow victory over 1. FC Heidenheim at Deutsche Bank Park.

Two changes Albert Riera tweaked his line-up in two positions following last week’s 0-0 draw at FC St. Pauli, bringing in Ritsu Doan and Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab for Oscar Højlund and Jonathan Burkardt, who both dropped to the bench. Chance for Larsson As expected, the guests began by sitting deep in their own half with a packed defence. Eintracht had plenty of possession early on and created their first chance after 13 minutes, when Arnaud Kalimuendo’s back-heel teed up Hugo Larsson. The Swede drove into the box but his shot from 13 metres was saved by Diant Ramaj. 

Goalless at the interval The Eagles lacked any punch in the final third after that, with Jean-Matteo Bahoya and Amaimouni-Echghouyab well marshalled by the Heidenheim defence on the left and right wings respectively. Kalimuendo, playing through the middle, was likewise tightly marked, meaning there were no more chances before the break in a goalless first half. 

Kalimuendo breaks deadlockEintracht enjoyed a perfect start to the second half when Robin Koch flicked the ball on to Kalimuendo, who executed an acrobatic volley from seven metres out, sparking raucous celebrations inside Deutsche Bank Park (53’). 

Koch sent offThe Eagles were reduced to ten men in the 74th minute when Koch was shown the red card for a second bookable offence. Nevertheless, Riera’s men almost made it 2-0 just 60 seconds later when Bahoya’s brilliant cross from the left found Doan inside the box, but his close-range effort went just wide of the right-hand post. Amaimouni-Echghouyab had a chance a short while later but his attempt was saved by Ramaj (79’).

Frankfurt fought tooth and nail to preserve their lead, showing tremendous team spirit to see the result through to the final whistle and earn what was ultimately a well-deserved win to pick up three more important points in their battle for a European spot.