Eintracht duel ends clearly
Furious Ekitiké enchants Frankfurt after a lame cup half
Eintracht against Eintracht: The cup duel between Braunschweig and Frankfurt starts cautiously, but then Hugo Ekitiké turns up the heat and is involved in three goals within nine minutes. Despite a consolation goal, the second division team ultimately has no chance.
First a brilliant assist, then a brace with finesse: Hugo Ekitiké conjured up Eintracht Frankfurt into the second round of the DFB Cup. With fine technique and impressive determination, the French striker became the decisive man in the 4-1 (0-0) win at second division bottom club Eintracht Braunschweig. After initial difficulties, the Hessians ultimately lived up to their clear role as favorites.
After a balanced first half, Ekitiké first set up Fares Chaibi's outer instep to make it 1-0 (52nd) in the duel between the two traditional clubs in front of 21,201 spectators. Four minutes later, the 22-year-old scored the second goal after an irresistible dribble with a deliberate finish (56th), before increasing the score to 3-0 with a lob (61st). A little later, coach Dino Toppmöller gave him permission to finish work early. Igor Matanovic added another goal (88th), then Levente Szabo scored for Braunschweig (89th).
“In the first half we had good control, but we weren't as dangerous as we wanted,” said Toppmöller on ARD, “in the second half we had more moves and more activity in the game. It was quite a Mature performance from my team.”
Ten years after the last duel between the two clubs to date – Frankfurt's captain Kevin Trapp and his counterpart Ermin Bicakcic were on the pitch for their clubs in the 3-0 victory over the Adler in 2014 – the balance of power turned out to be clear. The five-time cup winners and last year's sixth place in the Bundesliga had a significantly greater individual class; after a change in the summer, the Lower Saxony team had failed to win a point in their first two league games and now suffered their third competitive defeat.
Braunschweig initially more dangerous
Frankfurt, who had a new signing in right-back Rasmus Kristensen, tried to control the game and pace their offensive actions from the start. 2014 world champion Mario Götze was supposed to set the pace behind Ekitike, but there was hardly any danger in the first round. There was a noticeable lack of creativity around the penalty area – Lion goalkeeper Lennart Grill only had to parry a header from defender Robin Koch (11th) and a long-range shot from Omar Marmoush (45th).
The loudly cheered hosts defended courageously and even appeared more dangerous at times during their rare switching actions. Walid Ould-Chikh reported his team to Trapp early on with a long-range shot (7th). After a long, ultimately unproductive period of pressure from Frankfurt, Trapp gave Braunschweig's striker Johan Gomez the first real chance to score after a hesitant run out after a corner (27th). The home team now broke away from the defense more often and played the game openly.
After the break, the Frankfurt team, who are expecting a difficult Bundesliga opener in Dortmund next Saturday, had to step up their game – and they did so quickly. Braunschweig briefly hoped again in the 59th minute. But the supposed goal to make it 1:2 didn't count because of offside, and shortly afterwards the game was decided.
