Bundesliga: Eintracht Frankfurt beats Borussia Dortmund 2-0

Nuri Sahin quickly disappeared into the catacombs of the Frankfurt Arena. The gloating chants of the Eintracht fans shouting “Sahin out” must not have gone unnoticed by the unsuccessful coach of Borussia Dortmund. Meanwhile, the BVB professionals tried to appease their own supporters, but only received a loud whistle in response.

Last year’s Champions League finalist is getting into more and more trouble in the Bundesliga and lost 0-2 (0-1) at the start of the second half of the season against Eintracht Frankfurt without top scorer Omar Marmoush, who was willing to change. BVB got zero points from the first three competitive games in 2025. Dortmund fell to tenth place in the table with just 25 points. Third-place Frankfurt (36) is just as far away as relegation place 16.

“It’s results sport. We couldn’t get a result again. The second half was a decent performance. But that should be normal. We can’t buy anything for that,” said Dortmund national player Pascal Groß on the streaming service DAZN and struggled with some tricky decisions. where there were no penalties. “Self-pity doesn’t help either. Talk less, do more – that’s the only way you’ll get out of it,” added Groß.

The mood in Frankfurt, however, is completely different. To celebrate the day, Marmoush also came onto the pitch in civilian clothes and said goodbye after an impressive time for Eintracht. “We all know what we had in Omar. Outstanding character, outstanding player. He helped the club. It’s always a shame when a player leaves. He’s an important player for us. We’ll miss him,” said Frankfurt’s Mario Idol.

Others had to take over the scoring. Like Hugo Ekitiké (18th minute), who scored the opening goal in front of 58,000 spectators and who will face a major sporting challenge with the impending departure of his congenial strike partner to Manchester City. Oscar Hojlund made the decision in stoppage time (90+2).

Despite the third defeat in a row, Nuri Sahin remains coach of the struggling Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund. Sports director Sebastian Kehl confirmed this after the 0:2 (0:1) at Eintracht Frankfurt. “We will continue in this constellation. Nuri has the trust,” said Kehl on DAZN.

Managing director Lars Ricken also expressed his confidence in the hapless coach: “Nuri has had our backing so far, he will continue to have it. It is his and our responsibility that we have to get the best out of Borussia. Nuri will be on the bench in Bologna sit with the clear expectation that we now need victories and experiences of success.”

Eintracht, on the other hand, is strengthening its ambitions to participate in the Champions League. 33 points in the first half of the season were already a record – now Dino Toppmöller and his team have also made an impressive start to the second half of the season.

In addition to Dortmund’s crisis coach Sahin, Marmoush was the topic of the evening at the start of the second half of the season. Shortly after 7 p.m., Eintracht announced that the Egyptian was not in the squad due to his upcoming move to Manchester City. “We’re talking about Manchester City. This is not a normal club. This is a huge step for him, a huge opportunity,” said sports director Markus Krösche on DAZN.

The probability that the top scorer will change in the coming days is “very high”. A transfer fee of up to 80 million euros is being discussed. After Randal Kolo Muani, Luka Jovic and Sébastien Haller, it would be Eintracht’s fourth multi-million dollar departure within five and a half years. In the stands, the fans were not singing about the missing Marmoush, but about manager Krösche.

In terms of sport, Coach Toppmöller’s team didn’t show any signs of the major bloodletting. After around 60 seconds, Hugo Larsson had the chance to take the lead, but Gregor Kobel, who rushed out of the gate, prevented BVB from falling behind early. Dortmund seemed strangely reserved in many scenes and also made too many mistakes.

A quarter of an hour later after the first chance, the Swiss BVB goalkeeper had no chance: after a precise assist from Rasmus Kristensen, Ekitiké shot in flat. It was the young Frenchman’s ninth goal of the season. Only Harry Kane, Marmoush, Patrik Schick and Jonathan Burkardt, who is also traded in Frankfurt, have been more successful so far. No professional from the highly rated Dortmund offensive comes close to Ekitiké’s record.

After the embarrassing 2:4 at newly promoted Holstein Kiel, BVB was looking for compensation – but there wasn’t much to be seen. “Even with eleven sick players, you can’t perform like that,” Sahin, who was heavily criticized, remarked before the game. Serhou Guirassy (9th) hit the post with his head, but BVB didn’t have more goal area scenes to offer in the first half.

Eintracht is completely different: Ekitiké alone missed further good opportunities (29th/34th). However, the closest thing to making it 2-0 was former Dortmund player Ansgar Knauff, who hit the inside post with a remarkable shot just a short time after the opening goal. With a one-goal deficit, Borussia were well served at half-time.

After the break the picture turned. The introduction of Yan Couto for the weak Ramy Bensebaini had an impact on Dortmund. Couto himself (49th), Jamie Gittens (58th) and Guirassy again achieved decent shots, but that wasn’t enough. Borussia was unable to correct the weak first half. When BVB finally threw everything forward, Frankfurt countered mercilessly. Hojlund ran alone towards Kobel and ensured the final score.

Note: This article has been updated several times.