The Eintracht fans were in party mood from the off, though its unlikely they will want to look back too much on this game,  even as they celebrated 100 years of the Waldstadion before the kick-off. Yet, after a short interruption, as paper remnants from the pre-match choreo had to be cleared from the pitch, their own Farès Chaïbi had the first opportunity with a free kick. Frederik Rönnow, however, stopped it well. Union's goalkeeper had to intervene again, showing trademark reflexes, shortly afterwards when Nathaniel Brown shot from inside-left. 

Undaunted, Union struck on the counter. After a mixup in the Frankfurt defense, provoked by aggressive pressing from the Eisernen, the ball found its way to Ilyas Ansah. The striker didn't think twice, and shot across goalkeeper Kauã Santos first time, giving him no chance as the ball flashed past and inside the back post. Frankfurt responded with long periods of possession, patiently looking for a way forward, but when Can Uzun shot from the back, Rönnow was once again solid. Union's defence were firm, organised and unflappable. 

The base they had provided worked wonders as Union struck again in the 32nd minute. After winning the ball, the superb, selfless, Andrej Ilić held it up before playing it through to Oliver Burke. The Union striker darted into the space provided  by Eintracht's high defensive line, remained ice-cold in front of goal, and made it 2-0 with his first competitive goal for the club.

Just before half-time, Eintracht gave themselves a chance, as Brown cracked a shot towards goal having been set up by Elye Wahi. His shot was decisively deflected by Uzun on the turn, whether  through a great stroke of fortune  of´r a moment of improvised brilliance. Either way, it ensures that Union were 2-1 up as the sides went down the tunnel. 

Union roared into the second half. Nnamdi Collins lost the ball to Ansah, who held his own, despite the jostling, dragging attentions of Hugo Larsson. Ansah laid the ball cleverly to Ilić, whose chipped cross sailed to the far post where Burke rose to head home to make it 3-1. Three minutes later, Burke added another, and again it came from the boot of his partner, the irrepressible Serbian, Ilic. After regaining possession, Ilić slipped Burkethrough in front of goal, scoring his third with a delicious, cheeky chip. It was Ilić's fourth assist of the match. 

The match calmed down a bit around the hour, but this was just the prelude to the storm about to break out. Uzun and Larsson were denied by Leopold Querfeld and Frederik Rönnow respectively, and Eintracht tried to bring new momentum with several attacking substitutions. But, despite the personnel changes, Union remained stable. All was fine. 

However...  after Ritsu Doan's cross, which Tim Skarke initially headed out of danger, Uzun was on hand and scored from close range with his right foot ten minutes before the end of regular time to make it 4-2. Then Eintracht first appealed for a penalty after Jonathan Burkardt went down in the box following a challenge by Querfeld. After a subsequent, agonising VAR check, referee Sven Jablonski ultimately awarded a penalty for Eintracht, which Burkardt put confidently down the middle to make it 4-3 with three minutes still to play. 

In the frantic closing minutes, and the ten minutes added on, Eintracht threw everyone forward, but tUnion's defence held out. It could take another 100 years for them to see a happier end come to a game at the Waldstadion. 

“We felt we wanted to give something back to the fans after last week, and that we managed to do it here  with such a game makes me very happy. We started well from the beginning, were aggressive in the duels, and didn’t give Frankfurt any chance to get their game going.” 

“That was a very intense duel. We had to stay highly concentrated every second and pushed ourselves as a team to our maximum. Every player brings different strengths to the team – and today we brought out the best from each on the pitch. We were just in the flow, and I am glad that we could celebrate the victory now with the fans.” 

“Our complete match plan worked out today. We knew that Frankfurt are especially dominant in possession, but that we would get our chances in transition. We needed calm to take advantage of these opportunities – and Oliver showed that several times today. Overall, it was a very good performance, even though we all had to hold our breath briefly after the penalty. I take responsibility for the red card and unfortunately will have to watch next week.”