It took just three minutes for the hosts to take the lead, as Marin Ljubicic saw his shot deflected behind for a corner that Josip Juranovic delivered towards Emmanuel Latte Lath.
Despite being held by Raphael Onyedika, the debutant rose to turn home a header that left Noah Atublou helpless on his own maiden appearance.
Adi Hutter’s side responded with a corner of their own in the 10th minute, as Younes Ebnoutalib reacted quickest to a loose ball to punish some unconvincing defending.
Ebnoutalib was equally alert after kick-off and pounced on an awful Leopold Querfeld touch, then raced through and just about squeezed his shot over the line despite Matheo Raab getting a touch on it and Zeno Van Den Bosch’s best efforts to keep it out, scoring just nine seconds after the restart.
While there weren’t any other goals in the first half, with Can Uzun poking the ball over from Elias Baum’s neat ball, its bizarre nature continued as an official went off injured around the half-hour mark. Eintracht largely remained in control after the lengthy delay, although Ayoube Amaimouni’s shot from the edge of the box was blocked by Querfeld.
Union still remained spirited and applied some pressure in the second half, even if they struggled to test Atubolu, who had taken a blow to the head from Michel Aebischer before the break.
Mauro Lustrinelli made his move in the 61st minute with a trio of attacking substitutions that included the introduction of Skarke, who couldn’t get a clean connection on his effort from Tom Rothe’s long throw.
There was no such wastefulness from Ebnoutalib six minutes after that change, as he made the most of a fortuitous bounce off Baum by emphatically lashing his volley home.
Atubolu then did brilliantly to stop a deflected free-kick and deny Rothe’s attempt. The visiting goalkeeper made another pair of impressive saves but was beaten from the ensuing corner, as another Juranovic delivery was met by a towering Querfeld header with 11 minutes left on the clock.
Union’s miraculous comeback was completed in the 92nd minute, as Van Den Bosch headed the ball back to Querfeld, whose own header was flicked in by Skarke.
That will act as a major boost to Lustrinelli and his Union side, while Eintracht’s mood will be dampened after their 11-0 demolition of fifth-tier side SC St. Tonis in the DFB-Pokal.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Younes Ebnoutalib (Eintracht)
