Andre Silva on target as Frankfurt earn draw at Stuttgart

VfB Stuttgart 2-2 Eintracht Frankfurt
Goals: 1-0 Gonzalez (17'), 2-0 Castro (37'), 2-1 Silva (61'), 2-2 Abraham (75')

Frankfurt first went close as Silva’s header brought a good save from Gregor Kobel before Castro fired over when well positioned from a swift Stuttgart counter - all inside the opening 10 minutes. Both sides engaged in a frenetic, end-to-end back and forth from the very first whistle and after a quarter of an hour the inevitable opener came as Nicolas Gonzalez picked himself up after being fouled in the area to stroke home his second goal of the season with a confident penalty. In reply, Frankfurt continued to push forward at will and should have made more of a poor pass in the Stuttgart defence, but telepathic trio Bas Dost, Daichi Kamada and Silva couldn’t punish their hosts. Each team had further opportunities to add to the first-half score, but it was Stuttgart who struck again next as Castro raced clear and slid home to send his side into the break with a two-goal lead.

Aymen Barkok and Amin Younes were introduced on the flanks by Adi Hütter at the start of the second half, with his side in need of some comeback if they were to end their run of three league games without victory. They came agonisingly close to pulling one back shortly after the resumption, but Dominik Kohr's effort was cleared off the line. The visitors' punishment for their prolifigacy was almost immediate, but they were fortunate to see Mateo Klimowicz's fine header crash off the bar to safety. Frankfurt finally found a breakthrough with a little under half an hour to go after superb play from Barkok, with his cutback being arrowed into the bottom-corner by Silva. It immediately set a helter-skelter game of football up for a dramatic crescendo and Frankfurt skipper David Abraham further greased the wheels when he headed home the equaliser with 15 minutes to go. Late substitute Filip Kostic almost completed the turnaround with just minutes to play but his rocket of a free kick was tipped over by Kobel as both sides settled for what was a hugely entertaining - and ultimately fair - draw.

• Gonzalez - the side's 14-goal top-scorer un Bundesliga 2 last season - has now scored in each of his last two league matches.
• Stuttgart captain Castro also bagged his second of the campaign, with both he and Gonzalez scoring at home for the first time this season in the process.
• Stuttgart have not won at home in league competition since beating Sandhausen 5-1 on Matchday 32 of the 2019/20 Bundesliga 2 season. Their last top-flight win at the Mercedes-Benz Arena came roughly a year earlier, against Wolfsburg.
• Frankfurt have not kept a clean sheet in the Bundesliga in 12 matches.
• Silva has now scored 13 goals since last season's Bundesliga restart.
• Hütter's Frankfurt outfit have now gone four games without a win (D3, L1), while only Wolfsburg (five) have drawn more games than then (four).

Stuttgart: Kobel - Stenzel, Karazor (Anton 72'), Kempf - Silas (Coulibaly 72'), Endo, Mangala, Sosa - Klimowicz (Kalajdzic 85'), Castro (c) (Didvai 90') - Gonzalez
Unused subs: Bredlow, Churlinov, Förster, Klement, Kaminski
Out: Mavropanos (knee), Mola (hip), Thommy (elbow), Awoudja (Achilles tendon)
Coach: Pellegrino Matarazzo 

Frankfurt: Trapp - Abraham (c), Hasebe, Hinteregger - Toure (Younes 46'), Kohr, Ilsanker (Sow 80'), Zuber (Barkok 46') - Kamada (Kostic 87') - Dost, Silva
Unused subs: Schubert, N'Dicka, Hrustic, Chandler, Tuta
Out: Ache (thigh)
Coach: Adi Hütter