Eintracht Frankfurt reached the DFB Pokal final for a second season in a row following a tense and tight 1-0 win over Schalke in Gelsenkirchen.
Luka Jovic flicked home from a corner to send Niko Kovac’s side to Berlin and settle a game that was the polar opposite of yesterday’s eight-goal fest between Bayer Leverkusen and FC Bayern, who will join the Eagles in next month’s showpiece.
There was late controversy for the home side, who saw Franco di Santo’s injury time strike ruled out for an apparent handball.
The game will see future Bayern manager Kovac go up against his new side in his last game for Frankfurt in the Olympiastadion on May 19th.
A hard-fought game saw both teams refuse to show their hand in the opening half, though it took a splendid fingertip save from Frankfurt stopper Lukas Hradecky to deny Guido Burgstaller and keep the score at 0-0.
A better second half saw more openings, and Hradecky had to be alert to brilliantly deny Burgstaller and then Yevhen Konoplyanka in quick succession as the home side began to ramp up the pressure.
But they were hit by a smash and grab with 15 minutes remaining, as Jovic expertly steered home from a corner to send the away fans into raptures.
From then the game came to life, though it was a short-lived experience for Gelson Fernandes, who received his marching orders for a foul on Leon Goretzka less than a minute after being substituted on.
Eintracht Frankfurt reached the DFB Pokal final for a second season in a row following a tense and tight 1-0 win over Schalke in Gelsenkirchen.
Luka Jovic flicked home from a corner to send Niko Kovac’s side to Berlin and settle a game that was the polar opposite of yesterday’s eight-goal fest between Bayer Leverkusen and FC Bayern, who will join the Eagles in next month’s showpiece.
There was late controversy for the home side, who saw Franco di Santo’s injury time strike ruled out for an apparent handball.
The game will see future Bayern manager Kovac go up against his new side in his last game for Frankfurt in the Olympiastadion on May 19th.
A hard-fought game saw both teams refuse to show their hand in the opening half, though it took a splendid fingertip save from Frankfurt stopper Lukas Hradecky to deny Guido Burgstaller and keep the score at 0-0.
A better second half saw more openings, and Hradecky had to be alert to brilliantly deny Burgstaller and then Yevhen Konoplyanka in quick succession as the home side began to ramp up the pressure.
But they were hit by a smash and grab with 15 minutes remaining, as Jovic expertly steered home from a corner to send the away fans into raptures.
From then the game came to life, though it was a short-lived experience for Gelson Fernandes, who received his marching orders for a foul on Leon Goretzka less than a minute after being substituted on.
Schalke forced the issue and had six minutes of injury time to find a leveler, but were unable to break down the Frankfurt back line.
The one time the visitors were breached they were saved by the referee, who deemed Di Santo to have used his hand to control the ball before firing into the top corner.
The elation on the Frankfurt players at the final whistle was huge, and it is they who will try to stop Bayern regaining the trophy they last won in 2016.
