Mahdavikia on bench as Eintracht open season with home loss

Fresh from a 2-0 victory over NK Ljubljana in UEFA Cup qualifying on Thursday, Lucien Favre's side dominated the opening half at the Waldstadion and were rewarded when their Brazilian striker Rafael scored just before the interval.

Marko Pantelic, who scored both goals in midweek, was the architect of Rafael's opening goal and he turned provider again on the hour to set up Patrick Ebert to seal the win.

Eintracht manager Friedhelm Funkel was forced to start the game without a number of players due to an extended injury list.

Christoph Preuss, Aleksander Vasoski, Benjamin Kohler, Markus Proll, Zlatan Bajramovic, Jan Zimmermann and Umit Korkmatz were all unavailable for selection and Funkel's weakened side were immediately put under pressure.

Eintracht goalkeeper Oka Nikolov made two fine saves inside the opening quarter to keep his side in the game.

After nine minutes Rafael had a clear sight on goal, and while he got his shot from 10 yards on target, Nikolov moved well to turn the ball away.

The FYR Macedonia international then produced an even better save three minutes later to deny Pantelic.

Hertha had to wait until the 43rd minute to open their account when Pantelic threaded a pass to Rafael who stepped around Nikolov before sliding home from close range.

Eintracht provided a greater attacking threat after the break, highlighted by a Nikos Liberopoulos strike after 57 minutes which flew narrowly wide.

But Hertha sealed the win three minutes later when Ebert benefited from some fine lead-up play from Pantelic to fire home from 15 yards.