DFB POKAL PLAYER RATINGS | Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1 (2-4 on penalties) Borussia Dortmund – BVB ride their luck and beat Frankfurt on penalties | OneFootball

Borussia Dortmund travels to Eintracht Frankfurt to kick off the return of the DFB Pokal nearly three months after the first round. 

In the opening round back in August, Frankfurt progressed after beating Regionalliga side FV Engers 5-0 to keep their first, and until the weekend, only clean sheet of the season.  Dortmund beat fellow Ruhr side Rot-Weiß Essen 1-0. 

Frankfurt started the game the brightest and opened the scoring in the 7th minute when two former Dortmunders combined as Mario Götze played through Ansgar Knauff to make it 1-0. For the rest of the half, Frankfurt were the much better and livelier side as they registered four shots, with three of them on target, compared to the visitors, who were unable to record a shot on target. 

In what has become a common occurrence for Dortmund in their past two games, after a poor first half, they immediately came out in the second half as a different and better team. In the 48th minute, Julian Brandt would equalise to make it 1-1. However, as the second half continued, Dortmund began to fade, while Frankfurt would grow into the game once again.

As the game looked to be heading to extra time, die Adler had the better chances, and tested not only the Dortmund defence, but Gregor Kobel; however, they were unable to score a winner. Meaning, an extra 30 minutes would be needed. 

In the extra 30 minutes, Dortmund would really ride their luck against Frankfurt, with the hosts having the best chances throughout the game and die Schwarzgelben needing to rely repeatedly on Gregor Kobel to keep them in the game. Frankfurt thought they had won it when Jonathan Burkardt bundled in a free-kick, but it would be ruled out for offside.

To penalties.

The hosts would have one penalty sent above the crossbar by Ritsu Doan, before Fares Chaïbi’s effort was saved by Kobel, while Dortmund were perfect from the spot. 

Dortmund ride their luck:

It’s fair to say that die Scharwzgelben were from the best team this evening, and for the majority of the game, they rode their luck. The visitors struggled at times to actually impose themselves on Frankfurt, apart from the opening stages of the second half. 

Eintracht Frankfurt:

Michael Zetterer (5),  Rasmus Kristensen (6), Robin Koch (6), Arthur Theate (6), Nathanial Brown (6),  Farés Chaïbi (6), Hugo Larsson (5), Ritsu Doan (6), Mario Götze (6), Ansgar Knauff (6), Jonathan Burkardt (6)

Others: Can Uzun (6), Ellyes Skhiri (5), Jean Bahoya (-), Michy Batshuayi (-)

Borussia Dortmund:

Gregor Kobel (7), Julian Ryerson (6), Aaron Anselmino (5), Waldemar Anton (6), Nico Schlotterbeck (6), Daniel Svensson (5), Marcel Sabitzer (5), Jobe Bellingham (6), Karim Adeyemi (6), Julian Brandt (6), Maximilian Beier (6)

Others: Niklas Süle (5), Serhou Guirassy (5), Carney Chukwuemeka (5), Felix Nmecha (5), Fabio Silva (5)

GGFN Man of the Match: Gregor Kobel (7)

The Swiss made six saves (via Fotmob), with most of them key saves made right at the end of normal time and in extra time to keep Dortmund in the game. To top it off, Kobel proved his importance as he made the save in the shootout to secure the win for BVB and progression to the next round. 

GGFN | Jack Meenan