Bruno Damiani and Chris Donovan help the Union earn a 2-2 tie with Germany’s Eintracht Frankfurt

The Union and Germany’s Eintracht Frankfurt played an entertaining 2-2 draw on Saturday at Subaru Park, as Union alum Paxten Aaronson got his homecoming and many young Union players got a taste of what big-time opponents are like.

Eintracht opened the scoring just three minutes in, capitalizing on a corner kick. Jonathan Burkardt got the decisive touch on Rasmus Kristensen’s header across the box, dismissing Frankie Westfield along the way.

Westfield has played against a lot of strikers in his rookie year in MLS, but he hasn’t seen too many who scored 18 goals in 29 Bundesliga games last season. That’s Burkardt, whom Eintracht signed for $24 million this summer.

If Union fans didn’t recognize Burkardt’s name, they likely would have recognized three other Eintracht starters. Atop the list was superstar playmaker Mario Götze, a five-time Bundesliga champion and scorer of Germany’s title-winning goal in the 2014 World Cup final.

Along with him, defender Rasmus Kristensen is a regular with Denmark’s national team. He and Robin Koch played in the English Premier League for Leeds United in recent years, alongside Union alum (and Paxten’s older brother) Brenden Aaronson.

The Union created a lot of scoring chances in the first half they didn’t finish, an eternal sign of the difference between good teams and great ones.

Mikael Uhre should have equalized for the Union in the 15th when he picked Arthur Theate’s pocket 25 yards from goal on the right wing. Just under three minutes later, Quinn Sullivan made an interception just outside the 18-yard box, turned quickly and shot off the post.

» READ MORE: Eintracht Frankfurt plans for Paxten Aaronson to stay with the team instead of going on another loan

In the 25th, Westfield took his turn to miss a big chance by heading Sullivan’s cross wide, and in the 36th Indiana Vassilev didn’t do enough with a header from a good position.

Bruno Damiani finally got the job done in the 41st, heading in a corner kick after the service went over the initial crowd that jumped for it.

To no surprise, there were lots of substitutions during the second half. The Union’s seven included a goalkeeper swap, Andrew Rick for Andre Blake. Eintracht’s five included Paxten Aaronson, who got a warm welcome from Union fans who came out to see his homecoming.

Another halftime entrant was Elye Wahi, a fast-rising 22-year-old French striker. He’s in line to be Eintracht’s successor to countryman Hugo Ekitiké, whom the club just sold to English superpower Liverpool for nearly $93 million. It didn’t take long for Wahi to show his talents: In the 61st, he raced upfield to finish off a breakaway and gave Eintracht the lead back.

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But the Union surprisingly tied things at 2-2 in the 73rd when Chris Donovan capitalized on the visitors’ high-pressing defense and raced half the length of the field to score — including a move around goalkeeper Jens Grahl, who came a long way out of his 18-yard box to try to stop him. That left the net wide-open, and Donovan took his finish in stride.

In between the goals, Union manager Bradley Carnell sent in three young academy products at once: 17-year-old centerback Neil Pierre and 19-year-old forwards Sal Olivas and Eddy Davis III. That was a nice opportunity for the prospects, and Davis had the pass that sent Donovan on his breakaway.

Reserve goalkeeper Oliver Semmle and left back Isaiah LeFlore entered in the 79th to cap off the subs.

Frankfurt’s second-half subs also included 18-year-old German-American attacking midfielder Marvin Dills. He has played for U.S. and German youth national teams, with his U.S. experience including a trip with the under-18 squad at the start of the summer. That team was coached by former Union reserve team coach Marlon LeBlanc.

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