Eintracht Frankfurt held their nerve and were helped by goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky as they beat Borussia Mönchengladbach on penalties in the semi-final of the DFB Pokal. Niko Kovac’s team won the shootout 7-6 and can now dream of a first major trophy since 1988. The match finished 1-1 after 90 and 120 minutes.
The winning penalty was scored by Branimir Hrgota, after Frankfurt’s keeper Hradecky saved both Andreas Christensen and Djibril Sow’s penalties. Guillermo Varela had missed the chance to win it for Frankfurt when he saw his penalty saved by Yann Sommer.
Taleb Tawatha (15’) had given Frankfurt the lead on a night which saw them reach their first cup final since 2006. The Eagles will meet either Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund in the final on 27th May.
Gladbach offered very little going forward in the first-half, until Jonas Hofmann (45.+2’) equalised on the stroke of half-time. The Fohlenelf have lost all four of their DFB Pokal semi-finals since they last lifted the trophy back in 1995.
“Gladbach are favourites, but we won’t surrender,” said the Frankfurt head coach Niko Kovac before the game. As promised, the team from Hessen put on a brave display in front of a partisan crowd of 54,014 at Borussia-Park. Frankfurt started the game well and had early chances through Mexikaner Fabian (2’) and ex-Gladbach player Branimir Hrgota (3’).
Gladbach struggled to get into the game and were missing their injured playmaker Raffael. Borussia had plenty of the ball but allowed their opponents to counter attack and this led to the opener. Timothy Chandler switched the ball to Tawatha who beat Yann Sommer from 17 yards with a shot which went in off the inside of the right-hand-post.
Once they had the lead, Frankfurt dropped off a little but still looked to capitalise on the numerous mistakes made by the home side. Gladbach looked very uncertain in possession and even the normally reliable Mahmoud Dahoud was making little impact on the game. Frankfurt were stronger in the challenge, often winning the ball in midfield. The equaliser from Hofmann just before the interval after some good work from Andre Hahn was more or less Gladbach’s only chance in the first 45 minutes.
The equlaiser did, however, bring the Fohlenelf to life after the break. Borussia showed new found energy as they pushed for a winner in what was a tightly contested match in which neither side wanted to give their opponent an inch.
Eintracht Frankfurt held their nerve and were helped by goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky as they beat Borussia Mönchengladbach on penalties in the semi-final of the DFB Pokal. Niko Kovac’s team won the shootout 7-6 and can now dream of a first major trophy since 1988. The match finished 1-1 after 90 and 120 minutes.
The winning penalty was scored by Branimir Hrgota, after Frankfurt’s keeper Hradecky saved both Andreas Christensen and Djibril Sow’s penalties. Guillermo Varela had missed the chance to win it for Frankfurt when he saw his penalty saved by Yann Sommer.
Taleb Tawatha (15’) had given Frankfurt the lead on a night which saw them reach their first cup final since 2006. The Eagles will meet either Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund in the final on 27th May.
Gladbach offered very little going forward in the first-half, until Jonas Hofmann (45.+2’) equalised on the stroke of half-time. The Fohlenelf have lost all four of their DFB Pokal semi-finals since they last lifted the trophy back in 1995.
“Gladbach are favourites, but we won’t surrender,” said the Frankfurt head coach Niko Kovac before the game. As promised, the team from Hessen put on a brave display in front of a partisan crowd of 54,014 at Borussia-Park. Frankfurt started the game well and had early chances through Mexikaner Fabian (2’) and ex-Gladbach player Branimir Hrgota (3’).
Gladbach struggled to get into the game and were missing their injured playmaker Raffael. Borussia had plenty of the ball but allowed their opponents to counter attack and this led to the opener. Timothy Chandler switched the ball to Tawatha who beat Yann Sommer from 17 yards with a shot which went in off the inside of the right-hand-post.
Once they had the lead, Frankfurt dropped off a little but still looked to capitalise on the numerous mistakes made by the home side. Gladbach looked very uncertain in possession and even the normally reliable Mahmoud Dahoud was making little impact on the game. Frankfurt were stronger in the challenge, often winning the ball in midfield. The equaliser from Hofmann just before the interval after some good work from Andre Hahn was more or less Gladbach’s only chance in the first 45 minutes.
The equlaiser did, however, bring the Fohlenelf to life after the break. Borussia showed new found energy as they pushed for a winner in what was a tightly contested match in which neither side wanted to give their opponent an inch.
A somewhat elusive figure in the second period was Fabian, who scored twice in Frankfurt win over Augsburg last weekend. The visitors did, however, remain defensively solid and compact, as they have for much of this season. They managed to limit Gladbach to very few clear cut chances in the second-half, in front of a vociferous crowd. Stindl (74’) tried his luck from distance, but was denied by Hradecky and, in extra time, Nico Elvedi (108‘) and captain Stindl (110’) both missed chances for the home side.
