Borussia Dortmund can still do it. After two bankruptcies in foreign places, BVB again shows a title-worthy performance against Eintracht Frankfurt. Trainer Favre breathes a sigh of relief.
Dortmund (dpa) - Vulnerable away, masterly at home - Borussia Dortmund has found its way back to success after two defeats in Bremen and Leverkusen.
With the safe 4-0 (1-0) over Eintracht Frankfurt, the defensive team of coach Lucien Favre jumped to second place for at least one day. Thanks to goals from Lukasz Piszczek (33.), Jadon Sancho (50.), Erling Haaland (54.) and Raphaël Guerreiro (74.) in front of 81,365 spectators in the sold-out Dortmund World Cup stadium, BVB also succeeded in a dress rehearsal for the champions League duel with Paris Saint-Germain four days later at the same location.
In contrast, the Frankfurt suffered the first defeat in the second half of the season. With 28 points, Eintracht, which had started the new year more successfully than ever in its club history, remains stuck in the middle of the table.
After massive criticism of his team's continued defensive weakness, BVB coach Favre took consequences and eliminated regular player Manuel Akanji from the starting line-up, whom he had held on to for weeks despite poor performance. The role of the game designer after the injuries of Marco Reus and Julian Brandt was taken over by Thorgan Hazard. Even without the two top performers, BVB dominated long stretches of the game.
There was no sign of uncertainty after the two bankruptcies. From the beginning, BVB took over the directing and was close to the post of early leadership in a free kick by Raphael Guerreiro (9th). In contrast, the Frankfurt team, where the former Dortmund Sebastian Rode had moved into the starting lineup instead of Dominik Kohr, switched to defensive work.
To the detriment of Borussia, the Eintracht defense, as in the previous five competitive games this year, initially proved to be solid without defeat. Although BVB made an honest effort, it did not find any gaps until late in the first half. Just when the guests were preparing to free themselves from the pressure, Piszczek, who had moved into the team, broke the spell. His concealed low shot from the penalty area into the lower corner was out of reach for Eintracht goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.
Not only this goal, but also the progress in cover delighted BVB coach Favre, who was able to cheer again early after the break. Axel Witsel sent Sancho a long, well-considered ball far to the Frankfurt penalty area, where the 19-year-old English defender David Abraham got into the void and scored to 2: 0. Supertalent Haaland followed shortly after with his eighth goal of the season from a short distance, Guerreiro eliminated the last doubts.
The Frankfurt team did not rally against the BVB defense, which was still secure. After Guerreiro's goal, the Favre team was finally able to concentrate on the first knockout round first leg against Paris on Tuesday (9:00 p.m. / DAZN).
Borussia Dortmund
Eintracht Frankfurt
Game information