Eintracht Frankfurt held to draw by Nurnberg in relegation playoff

Updated: May 17, 2023, 12:59 am
Anis Ben-Hatira of Eintracht Frankfurt challenges Laszlo Sepsi of Nurnberg on Thursday.
Alexander Scheuber/Bongarts/Getty Images

Eintracht Frankfurt will rue a host of missed chances when they head to Nurnberg for the second leg of their playoff for a place in the Bundesliga next season after being held to a 1-1 draw in Thursday's first leg.

Marco Russ gifted Nurnberg the lead with an own goal before Mijat Gacinovic levelled for the hosts, who dominated from start to finish but could not get their full reward.

That Russ strike was the only goal-bound effort for the visitors, who can count themselves lucky to still be in the tie heading into a decisive 90 minutes at the Frankenstadion on Monday.

Russ was included in the Frankfurt team only days after discovering he had a tumour, while Alexander Meier was also back in the starting XI for the Eagles.

With an almost full-strength team, Nico Kovac's men appeared keen to make the most of this home leg and Stefan Aigner tester Raphael Schafer -- taking part in his third play-off for Nurnberg, having won his previous two -- early on.

Two penalty appeals were waved away as the hosts continued to dominate proceedings, up to the moment Russ and Frankfurt's night took a turn for the worse.

The Frankfurt captain met Sebastian Kerk's free kick and inadvertently turned it past his own goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky,

A miserable few days for the Frankfurt defender got even worse early in the second half when he was shown a yellow card which rules him out of the return leg on Monday, meaning he will only be able to watch as his team-mates determine his club's destiny for next season.

There was finally something for the home fans to celebrate 20 minutes into the second half, though, when Timothy Chandler's cross was taken down by Gacinovic, who promptly supplied the finish to level the match.

A Chandler header was tipped over the crossbar before Haris Seferovic was denied by the Nurnberg goalkeeper.

It was one-way traffic right to the end, when Luc Castaignos only just failed to reach the ball from close range, letting Nurnberg off the hook as they return to Bavaria with a 1-1 draw, without even having had a single shot on target.