bundesliga

Borussia Dortmund leave it late to beat Eintracht Frankfurt

17.03.2024

Borussia Dortmund left it late but took a 3-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt to pull into the fourth and final UEFA Champions League place, Mats Hummels and Emre Can scoring in the final 10 minutes.

Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Eintracht Frankfurt
Goals: 0-1 Götze 13', 1-1 Adeyemi 33' (assist: Malen), 2-1 Hummels 81' (assist: Brandt), 3-1 Can 90'+3' (pen.)

Dortmund lined up in a 4-3-3 with Julian Brandt and Marco Reus two of their three midfielders, suffice to say they looked primed to attack. But despite starting the game on the front foot, Frankfurt caught them on the counter inside the first 15 minutes. Omar Marmoush rolled Nico Schlotterbeck after a long ball forward, and although Alexander Meyer denied him one-on-one, Mario Götze was on hand to convert on the follow up against his former club. Niclas Füllkrug then saw a header cleared off the line by Willian Pacho at the other end before a speculative Donyell Malen effort sailed harmlessly into Kevin Trapp's gloves. Dortmund would restore parity before the half was out, though, Malen leaving Karim Adeyemi with a tap-in for his second goal of the season, both scored since the turn of the year. Marmoush thought he'd restored Frankfurt's lead towards the end of the half, but he was ruled offside and it was 1-1 at the break.

Éric Junior Dina Ebimbe had the first real chance of the second half, letting rip from a tight angle, but Meyer - playing in place of the injured Gregor Kobel - was well-positioned to make the save. Ansgar Knauff, another former Dortmund player, then tried to unpick the home defence with a backheel, but there was too much on it for Marmoush to latch on to. Reus failed to capitalise on a free header from a Brandt corner before Dina Ebimbe's last-gasp challenge denied Adeyemi. Edin Terzić sent Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Felix Nmecha on for the run-in, but Frankfurt had the next chance with Marmoush blasting a shot straight at Meyer. Brandt had a similar chance at the other end before Hummels met Brandt's cross with a diving header to make it 2-1. Emre Can had a late red card rescinded before slotting home an injury-time penalty and it ended 3-1.

Match stats

Götze had 106 direct goal-involvements across his two Dortmund spells. He now has three goals against them.
Adeyemi's equaliser was his second goal of the Rückrunde, and indeed the season as a whole. He scored six last year, having tallied 19 in his final season with Red Bull Salzburg.
There's been at least one goal in the last 56 Bundesliga meetings between these two, dating back to a goalless draw in Dortmund in April 1990, two years before Götze was born.
Dortmund are second only to runaway Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen for most points so far this calendar year (23 to 28).
Five Bundesliga games without defeat had been a first for Frankfurt under Dino Toppmöller.
Dortmund had 16 shots at Frankfurt's goal compared to Die Adler's seven on theirs.

Watch: German football took a stand against discrimination on Matchday 26

Line-ups

Dortmund: Meyer - Wolf, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Maatsen (Bensebaini 85') - Brandt (Özcan 84'), Can (c), Reus (Nmecha 65') - Malen, Füllkrug (Moukoko 73'), Adeyemi (Bynoe-Gittens 65')
Unused subs: Lotka, Süle, Sancho, Duranville
Out: Bamba (muscular), Haller (ankle), Kobel (knock), Ryerson (dermatitis), Sabitzer (suspended)
Coach: Edin Terzić

Frankfurt: Trapp (c) - Tuta (Chandler 90'), Koch, Pacho - Dina Ebimbe (Chaïbi 66'), Larsson, Skhiri (Hasebe 90'), Nkounkou - Götze (Ekitiké 74'), Knauff (Buta 74') - Marmoush
Unused subs: Grahl, Max, Collins, van de Beek
Out: Kalajdžić (knee), Loune (knee), Rode (knee)
Coach: Dino Toppmöller