DFB Cup: RB Leipzig wins final against Eintracht Frankfurt

Farewell gift from the top scorer: Christopher Nkunku became a cup hero in what was probably his last appearance for RB Leipzig and shot the defending champion to the second triumph in the club’s history. The striker scored the opening goal (71st minute) in the 2-0 (0-0) win against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday and prepared the second goal by Dominik Szoboszlai (85th), spoiling Oliver Glasner’s departure from the Hessians.

In front of 74,322 fans in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, Frankfurt’s Evan Ndicka unluckily deflected Nkunku’s shot to make it 0-1. Nkunku showed good vision for the second goal. The France international will move to Chelsea after the season, although there is no official confirmation yet. His goal and his assist were enough for a dreamy farewell in the by no means high-class final.

Eintracht Frankfurt fans set the mood

In the emotionally charged duel between Hessian tradition and Saxon modernity, it was mainly the Eintracht fans who created the final atmosphere. Hours before the game, tens of thousands of supporters gathered in the center of Berlin and were prepared for a glorious evening by President Peter Fischer. The club even sold remaining tickets for cash over the fence. The Frankfurters finally moved from Theodor-Heuss-Platz to the stadium, where they clearly outnumbered them with around 40,000 fans.

Of course, the celebrities could be seen on the grandstand. National coach Hansi Flick took a seat next to DFB sports director Rudi Völler and EM tournament director Philipp Lahm. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, a fervent Eintracht fan and at the club’s reception the night before, was present, as was Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Intense final for the DFB Cup

While the sympathies were clearly distributed in the ranks, the main actors below offered an intense and balanced game. Leipzig was granted the higher ball possession, but Frankfurt countered with an enormous willingness to run, impressive compactness and a committed shifting. Timo Werner (4th), who twisted his ankle in the final training session and was questionable for the starting XI, had the lead early on after a counterattack. But his graduation was just as pressureless as unplaced.

On the other hand, Eintracht also had a goal in the first section. The enormously present Randal Kolo Muani (16th) only hit the side netting after a wonderful individual action. The attacker courted by Bayern Munich was initially the most conspicuous player. Great things were also expected from Leipzig’s Nkunku. But the Bundesliga’s top scorer was initially completely up in the air, repeatedly getting stuck on Frankfurt’s 39-year-old defense chief Makoto Hasebe.

Pyrotechnics delay restart

The second period started a few minutes late as supporters from both clubs emptied their own pyrotechnics stocks at the end of the season. Multiple calls from the stadium announcer to refrain from the actions were consistently ignored. Both clubs should therefore face a high fine from the DFB.

The game continued exciting and intense – but was by no means high-class. The trainers Marco Rose and Glasner stood almost constantly on the edge of their coaching zone, feeding their professionals with instructions. After a good hour, birthday boy Mario Götze had a flash of inspiration, he sent Kolo Muani – but he decided against a shot in the penalty area and his pass got stuck.

RB Leipzig countered successfully

Rose was the first coach to react, bringing in Yussuf Poulsen for Werner. The Leipzig Cup specialist (12 goals/16 assists in 32 games) should finally cause more unrest in the Frankfurt defense. But Götze had the first big chance (64th): RB goalkeeper Janis Blaswich just saved the volley from the ex-world champion for a corner. Glasner now also changed the statics of the Frankfurt game, bringing in the more offensive Jesper Lindstrom for Sebastian Rode. In the same minute, Nkunku scored. Frankfurt pushed for the equalizer, Leipzig successfully countered.