Frankfurt celebrates without a top striker
Next BVB bankruptcy – how tight will it be for coach Şahin?
Updated on January 17, 2025 – 10:31 p.mReading time: 3 minutes
Borussia Dortmund won’t be able to calm down in the next few days either. The next defeat was against Eintracht Frankfurt.
How tight will it be for BVB coach Nuri Şahin? Borussia Dortmund lost 2-0 to Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday evening, their second defeat within a few days after the embarrassing defeat against Holstein Kiel (2:4). The crisis in Dortmund continues to grow, and calls for a change of coach will probably increase rather than decrease.
Frankfurt, on the other hand, shows that it can work without top striker Omar Marmoush. The Egyptian is about to move to Manchester City and is already missing from the squad against BVB. Hugo Ekitiké, who scored after just 18 minutes, and Oscar Höjlund in injury time (90th + 2) stood out as goal scorers.
Borussia Dortmund is getting into ever greater trouble in the Bundesliga and has now taken 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.
While things are becoming increasingly uncomfortable for Şahin and his team, which is only two strong at halftime, Eintracht has consolidated its ambitions to take part 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 Şahin, 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,” the heavily criticized Şahin 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.