As of: January 17, 2025 10:28 p.m
Eintracht Frankfurt achieved its third win of the year even without its top striker who was willing to leave – and exacerbated the crisis at Borussia Dortmund.
Eintracht won 2-0 against Borussia Dortmund on Friday evening at the start of the 18th matchday of the Bundesliga and consolidated third place in the table with their third win of the new year.
Despite a significant improvement in performance compared to the 4-2 defeat at Holstein Kiel during the week, BVB suffered their third defeat in a row and are stuck in midfield with 25 points.
Hugo Ekitiké gave Frankfurt the lead in the 18th minute, and Oscar Höjlund scored in the second minute of added time to make it 2-0.
Marmoush out – talks with Manchester City confirmed
Omar Marmoush, who played a key role in Eintracht's best first half of the season in 31 years with 15 goals and 9 assists, was not in the squad against BVB after a move to Manchester City became a bit more likely on matchday, sports director Markus Krösche confirmed talks with England's champions after kick-off.
Ansgar Knauff stormed for Marmoush from the start. After the final whistle, the Egyptian celebrated in civilian clothes and waved into the Frankfurt corner, all signs pointed to farewell.
-Waldemar Anton and Pascal Groß (after a red card suspension) returned to the starting line-up for BVB, which had been so vulnerable recently. Frankfurt put Dortmund under pressure right from the start. After very critical opening minutes, in which the black and yellow supporters once again had to be afraid and anxious, Dortmund found their way into the game better. Serhou Guirassy narrowly missed taking the lead after a counterattack when he hit the post (9th).
Etikité puts Frankfurt in the lead
The Dortmund team remained committed, but also still vulnerable in the backward movement: Hugo Ekitiké undermined Dortmund's defense with a through pass to Rasmus Kristensen and got the ball perfectly served back in the penalty area – Frankfurt led.
The game remained varied and BVB continued to attack. But Frankfurt still had the better opportunities: Knauff hit the post with a remarkable shot from the edge of the penalty area (22nd). Etikité missed a possible brace (34th) and put the ball over the crossbar from close range.
Dortmund offensive, but rarely dangerous in the end
BVB also went into the break with a deficit in the third game of the year, but increased their offensive efforts after the restart: Dortmund showed a lot of effort, restricted Eintracht as the game went on, but hardly had any dangerous shots in the penalty area. Julian Brandt had the best chance to equalize, but narrowly missed Frankfurt's goal from close range.
BVB was also unlucky that Arthur Theate's attack on Guirassy in the penalty area went unpunished. Dortmund's striker accepted the touch all too readily and went down, but Frankfurt couldn't have complained about a penalty whistle. Shortly before, Dortmund had wanted a penalty when Jamie Gittens was hit by Nnamdi Collins while running in the penalty area – this action was also not enough for referee Daniel Schlager to award a penalty.
Coach Nuri Sahin brought new impetus with the substitutions of Karim Adeyemi and Maximilian Beier in the final phase, but substitute Höjlund made Dortmund's next frustrating experience perfect after a counterattack.
“It's not an easy time. We brought this on ourselves, and now we have to figure it out together“, said captain Emre Can in the Sportschau interview. The Dortmund player struggled with the lack of exploitation of opportunities: “In the end we have zero points again. In our situation it only helps to win games. But at the moment we just can't do it.“
Dortmund against Bremen, in Hoffenheim
The struggling Dortmund team will continue in the Champions League in Bologna next Tuesday. In the league, BVB will host Werder Bremen on Saturday (3:30 p.m.). Frankfurt awaits Ferencvaros in the Europa League on Thursday, and in the league there is an away game at 1899 Hoffenheim on Sunday (3:30 p.m.).
