Aberdeen’s Europa Conference League campaign began with a battling defeat away to Eintracht Frankfurt, despite a much-improved display.
Omar Marmoush put the hosts in front from the spot after Jack MacKenzie fouled Eric Junior Dina Emimbe, but Dante Polvara equalised from a superb team move to the delight of the travelling Aberdeen contingent.
Barry Robson’s side continued to hold their own against the German side, but Robin Koch’s glancing header midway through the second half saw the hosts take all three points.
When Marmoush swept home from the spot in the 11th minute, one feared that Aberdeen could be in for a long night, but they were undaunted by the early concession, and hit back with a wonderful goal.
Bojan Miovski drove into space, released the marauding Nicky Devlin down the right, and the Aberdeen wing-back found the unmarked Polvara, who made no mistake from close range, lashing the ball into the roof of the net.
From there, Robson’s side more than held their own. There was a stunning save from Kelle Roos to deny Paxton Aaronson, but Aberdeen went in at the break deservedly level.
Eintracht made changes at the interval, but continued to lack fluency in the opening stages of the second half. However, Koch lost Slobodan Rubezic from a Fares Chaibi corner and glanced a header into the far corner to put the hosts back in front.
The second goal saw Eintracht take more of a grip on proceedings, but there were still moments in the game for Aberdeen, and they could have snatched a point right at the death.
The ball found its way through to Ester Sokler at the back post, but the forward couldn’t hit the target, volleying wide with the home defence helpless.
Player of the match – Nicky Devlin

Courageous Aberdeen show signs of progress – Analysis
Tyrone Smith, BBC Sport Scotland at the Deutsche Bank Park
Barry Robson will have learned a lot about his Aberdeen players tonight, as they showed bucket loads of character and courage.
Written off by virtually everyone going in to this game, they could have gone under when Frankfurt took the early lead – but they didn’t, they stood up and were counted to a man, clearly rattling their illustrious hosts.
Yes, Frankfurt prevailed in the end, but given all the talk pre match about the supposed gulf between the sides, Aberdeen can certainly leave Germany with their heads held high.
Robson got his tactics spot on tonight – he will be hoping his side can now take the positives from this game forward as they seek to revive their stuttering domestic campaign over the coming weeks.
What’s next?
Aberdeen return to domestic action against Ross County at Pittodrie on Sunday (15:00 BST).
Their next Conference League outing is against HJK Helsinki at Pittodrie on 5 October.
The Finnish champions opened their Group G account with a 3-2 home win against Greek side PAOK.
Line-ups
Frankfurt
Formation 3-4-3
- 1Trapp
- 4Koch
- 5Smolcic
- 3On it
- 26Dina Ebimbe
- 17RodeSubstituted forLarssonat 39′minutes
- 15Skhiri
- 29NkounkouSubstituted forKnaufat 68′minutes
- 30AaronsonBooked at 25minsSubstituted forThreatenedat 45′minutes
- 7MarmoushSubstituted forBlindat 83′minutes
- 27IdolSubstituted forChaibiat 45′minutes
Substitutes
- 8Chaibi
- 16Larsson
- 18Threatened
- 20Hasebe
- 22Chandler
- 23Heap
- 24Blind
- 33Grahl
- 35Silva Melo
- 36Knauf
- 47Baum
- 48Ferri
Aberdeen
Formation 5-4-1
- 24Roos
- 2Devlin
- 6Garden manBooked at 63mins
- 33Rubezic
- 5Jensen
- 3MacKenzie
- 21dustSubstituted forHayesat 71′minutes
- 10ClarksonSubstituted forBarronat 71′minutes
- 4ShinnieSubstituted forDuncanat 71′minutes
- 7McGrathSubstituted forPlinthsat 77′minutes
- 9MiovskiSubstituted forHenriques de Barros Lopesat 56′minutes
Substitutes
- 8Barron
- 11Henriques de Barros Lopes
- 14Guèye
- 15McGarry
- 17Hayes
- 18R Williams
- 19Plinths
- 23Duncan
- 27MacDonald
- 28Milne
- 30Be it
- 31Doohan
- Referee:
- Chrysovalantis Theouli
Live Text
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Match ends, Eintracht Frankfurt 2, Aberdeen 1.
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Second Half ends, Eintracht Frankfurt 2, Aberdeen 1.
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Robin Koch (Eintracht Frankfurt) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Ester Sokler (Aberdeen).
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Attempt missed. Ester Sokler (Aberdeen) right footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the right following a set piece situation.
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Foul by Farès Chaïbi (Eintracht Frankfurt).
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Jonny Hayes (Aberdeen) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Offside, Aberdeen. Stefan Gartenmann tries a through ball, but Duk is caught offside.
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Attempt missed. Farès Chaïbi (Eintracht Frankfurt) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Hugo Larsson.
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Foul by Willian Pacho (Eintracht Frankfurt).
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Ryan Duncan (Aberdeen) wins a free kick on the left wing.
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Ansgar Knauff (Eintracht Frankfurt) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Slobodan Rubezic (Aberdeen).
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Corner, Aberdeen. Conceded by Junior Dina Ebimbe.
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Substitution, Eintracht Frankfurt. Aurélio Buta replaces Omar Marmoush.
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Attempt saved. Junior Dina Ebimbe (Eintracht Frankfurt) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the top right corner.
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Substitution, Aberdeen. Ester Sokler replaces Jamie McGrath.
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Attempt saved. Ansgar Knauff (Eintracht Frankfurt) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Omar Marmoush.
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Attempt missed. Richard Jensen (Aberdeen) header from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Ryan Duncan with a cross following a corner.
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Corner, Aberdeen. Conceded by Willian Pacho.
Player of the match
DevlinNicky Devlin
Eintracht Frankfurt
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Squad number36Player nameKnauf
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Squad number16Player nameLarsson
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Squad number7Player nameOmar Marmoush
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Squad number29Player nameNkounkou
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Squad number24Player nameAurelio Buta
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Squad number8Player nameChaibi
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Squad number5Player nameSmolcic
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Squad number18Player nameThreatened
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Squad number4Player nameKoch
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Squad number30Player nameAaronson
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Squad number15Player nameSkhiri
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Squad number26Player nameDina Ebimbe
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Squad number27Player nameIdol
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Squad number1Player nameTrapp
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Squad number17Player nameRode
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Squad number3Player nameOn it
Aberdeen
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Squad number2Player nameDevlin
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Squad number6Player nameGarden man
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Squad number24Player nameRoos
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Squad number9Player nameMiovski
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Squad number5Player nameJensen
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Squad number21Player namedust
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Squad number7Player nameMcGrath
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Squad number17Player nameHayes
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Squad number10Player nameClarkson
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Squad number4Player nameShinnie
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Squad number23Player nameDuncan
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Squad number8Player nameBarron
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Squad number33Player nameRubezic
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Squad number3Player nameMacKenzie
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Squad number19Player namePlinths
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Squad number11Player nameAll