The competition went ahead, Borussia Dortmund followed suit thanks to a spectacular diving header from Mats Hummels:
Four days after their celebrated run to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, coach Edin Terzic’s team cemented their place in the Bundesliga with a 3:1 (1:1) win over Eintracht Frankfurt.
Karim Adeyemi (33), Hummels (81) after a Julian Brandt free-kick and Emre Can (90+3, penalty) turned the game around with their goals. Former Dortmund fan favorite Mario Götze (13) had put the visitors ahead. Eight matchdays before the end of the season, BVB are one point ahead of RB Leipzig, while Frankfurt remain sixth.
Terzic made five changes to his team compared to the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 tie against PSV Eindhoven (2:0) to ensure the “necessary freshness”. Goalkeeper Gregor Kobel was absent with an injury and Jadon Sancho, who was also not fully fit, was initially only on the bench.
Even without the in-form Englishman, the hosts took command in front of 81,365 spectators at another sold-out Signal Iduna Park. Marco Reus (7th) and Ian Maatsen (11th) came close to scoring from distance.
But then came the cold shower for BVB. After a mistake by Nico Schlotterbeck, Omar Marmoush sprinted alone towards the Dortmund goal. Kobel deputy Alexander Meyer made a strong save, but World Cup hero Götze scored the follow-up to give the visitors the lead
BVB only shook themselves briefly and pressed for an equalizer. However, Willian Pacho saved Niclas Füllkrug’s header on the line (18′).
Füllkrug is the only player from the runners-up to travel to the German national team on Monday. Like some of his team-mates, Adeyemi was not considered by national team coach Julian Nagelsmann. But that didn’t stop him from equalizing from close range after strong preparatory work from Donyell Malen. Things got wild after that. Both teams squandered good counter-attacking opportunities up to the break by losing the ball unnecessarily.
Hesse came out of the break with courage. First, ex-Dortmund player Ansgar Knauff slipped in a promising position in the penalty area (49′), a minute later Dina Ebimbe failed to beat Meyer from an acute angle.
Dortmund, on the other hand, needed some time to find their rhythm again. The hosts lacked precision and determination at the start of the second half.
After just under an hour, however, the Black & Yellows regained more control. However, they struggled to find gaps in Eintracht’s compact defense. Terzic reacted with a double substitution, bringing on Felix Nmecha and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens.
BVB continued to lack ideas, however, and Frankfurt remained dangerous on the few counter-attacks. However, Marmoush failed to score against Meyer, who reacted strongly (68′). At the other end, Malen tried from distance (71′). Hummels then made his grand entrance in the style of a center forward