Hrustic's brace secures Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt's win

Socceroos midfielder Ajdin Hrustic returned to club play this past weekend helping Eintracht Frankfurt get their first Bundesliga win of 2022.

It has been a difficult start to 2022 for Eintracht Frankfurt. They failed to register a win in January and have found the back of the net just three times. February started off differently, with Socceroo Hrustic making the difference for his Bundesliga side.

Eintracht Frankfurt 2022

Eintracht Frankfurt beat Stuttgart 3-32this past weekend, their first Bundesliga win of 2022.
The victory was secured by Socceroo Ajdin Hrustic who scored a brace.
Frankfurt have risen to ninth in the Bundesliga, just three points off a UEFA Champions League position.

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This Bundesliga season has not been an easy one for Ajdin Hrustic. The Socceroo has largely been used as a fringe player in his second season with Frankfurt, repeating the pattern of sparse play by Eintracht in his first season.

Despite a change of manager, Hrustic has not been able to break into Eintracht Frankfurt head coach Oliver Glasner's starting line up. The Austrian is known for his fixed structures that puts trust in well-established players.

Prior to this weekend's game he had made 11 league games for Eintracht in 2021-22, only 5 as a starter.

So precarious was his position that several clubs were linked with Hrustic over the January transfer window with both transfers and loan deals reported to have been expressed for the Australian midfielder.

However, those reports did not come to fruition and in his first post transfer windows match Hrustic was allowed to show his value.

Coming on at the start second half, with the score 1-1, Hrustic made an immediate impact. The Australian received a ball of a corner in the 47th minute and scored an impressive volley from the top of the box which Stuttgart goalie Florian Müller could do nothing about.

Stuttgart's Sasa Kalajdzic them scored an equalizer in the 70th minute of play. Seven minutes later Hrustic was once again on target. Receiving a short pass at the top of the box, he scored a second from nearly the same place as his first.

The brace gave Frankfurt a 3-2 lead which they were able to hold onto until the end of the match.

The Socceroos two goals also ended his Bundesliga goal drought that extended to May 2021. Speaking to Frankfurter Allgemeine after the match, Hrustic spoke of how the goals had been practiced and rehearsed:

"We tried the variant before the 2-1 against Leipzig. It didn't quite work out back then.”

“(Today) we saw that there is some space. To be honest, I didn't expect it – but a goal is a goal!

"I haven't played much," added Hrustic. "In the current season I also had a phase without playing, but here it is important to keep at it.”

Whether this latest performance will give him an opening into Glasner's lineup will be seen. Breaking the scoring drought though is a good first start for Hrustic.

At present his contribution lifted Eintracht to ninth in the Bundesliga, just three points off a UEFA Champions League position. Frankfurt next play on Saturday, February 12. They will face Wolfsburg.