Union Berlin and Eintracht Frankfurt Split the Points in a Wild 3-3 Thriller

Union Berlin had to wait until the 91st minute to salvage a point that looked out of reach from the moment Younes Ebnoutalib turned into Frankfurt's hero in the span of just eight minutes. The match at Stadion An der Alten Försterei ended 3-3, with Tim Skarke netting the equalizer as the final whistle loomed on the clock.

The start could not have been more frantic. Just two minutes in, Emmanuel Latte Lath headed home a Josip Juranovic corner delivery to put the hosts up 1-0. The celebration was short-lived: in the 9th minute, Ebnoutalib leveled things up from point-blank range on the left side, and a minute later, in the 10th, he struck again with a shot from outside the box to make it 1-2 before the first quarter hour had even elapsed. His double blow came so fast he barely had time to soak it in, picking up a yellow card for over-celebrating.

The first half closed with that visiting advantage intact, Eintracht Frankfurt controlling the spaces better, though Union Berlin created clear chances through Michel Aebischer without managing to convert them. In the second half, Frankfurt struck again: in the 66th minute, Ebnoutalib completed his outing with a third goal, this one from the center of the box off an assist from Elias Baum, making it 1-3 in what looked like a done deal.

But Union Berlin refused to fold. With substitutions already on the pitch (Livan Burcu, Woo-yeong Jeong and Tim Skarke had entered shortly after the hour mark), the home side began stacking up chances. In the 78th minute, Leopold Querfeld rose to head home off another Juranovic corner to cut the deficit, and deep into stoppage time, in the 91st minute, Skarke finished from close range off a headed flick from Querfeld himself to make it a final 3-3.

The numbers behind the back and forth

The stats reflect a match that was even on the scoreboard but with interesting nuances in the play. Union Berlin was sharper in front of goal despite having somewhat less possession.

The shots-on-target number stands out: Union Berlin put ten balls on frame compared to just three from Frankfurt, something also reflected in the post-match xG calculated from shot location, which came out at 2.408 for the home side against 1.994 for the visitors. This is our own estimate of what was generated during the match, not a prediction, but it confirms that Union deserved, at least in terms of chance volume, something more than trailing on the scoreboard for nearly the entire game.

Beforehand we had projected a tight match, with 43% odds for Eintracht Frankfurt, 32% for Union Berlin and 25% for a draw, along with total expected goals of 3.31. The final result, with six goals shared between both sides, ended up topping that figure, and the draw, the least likely of the three outcomes according to that projection, was exactly what played out on the field.

What the result leaves behind

With this draw, both Union Berlin and Eintracht Frankfurt collect their first point in the Bundesliga, sitting level in the middle of the table after matchday one. Neither side could hang on to all three points despite having control of the scoreboard at various points in the match, in one of those games where the final result ends up doing justice to just how contested it was from start to finish.