A gripping DFB Cup fight, unexpected turns – and a success for the favorites: Eintracht Frankfurt fought off the attack of the rebellious neighbors Darmstadt 98 with difficulty. In the explosive Hessen derby, the Champions League round of 16 defeated the sometimes furious second division leaders 4: 2 (2: 2) thanks to the double packer Randal Kolo Muani and made it into the quarterfinals.
The again strong vice world champion Kolo Muani (6th/90th), Rafael Borré (44th) and Daichi Kamada (62nd) shot the team of coach Oliver Glasner into the next round – and ended in a duel at eye level in a heated atmosphere Lilies hit series. For Darmstadt it was the first defeat after 20 games, Mathias Honsak (29th/31st) briefly let the guests dream of the surprise.
A whole region was looking forward to a game “that electrifies”, as Darmstadt coach Torsten Lieberknecht described it – only 30 kilometers separate the two cities. In the run-up, however, the investigations against Eintracht President Peter Fischer caused a stir, but initially nothing was known about the feared clashes between the two fan camps.
Atmospheric atmosphere in Frankfurt
There was an atmosphere in the stands, and Frankfurt dominated on the pitch at the beginning – mainly thanks to Kolo Muani. The Frenchman scored well early with a head. The fact that Eintracht did not decide the game in the early stages was solely due to the lack of callousness from Borré (11th) and Mario Götze (23rd).
Without the injured Jesper Lindström, but with Sebastian Rode in the starting eleven, the SBU actually had everything under control. After a bad pass by the captain, Darmstadt’s Honsak remained ice cold, completing the double strike just two minutes later – and thus opening a hard-fought cup game.
Kolo Muani takes care of the late preliminary decision
It continued like this for the Lilien, who had kicked out Borussia Mönchengladbach (2:1) in the previous round. Phillip Tietz (39th) even missed the third goal within a few minutes from the best position, which Borré punished on the other side. The Lindstrom replacement completed after Eintracht benefited from a Darmstadt turnover.
A lot of pyrotechnics in the stands opened the second round, in which the rivals gave nothing further. After a few warning shots from both sides, Kamada put the ball into the goal from the edge of the box, assisted by Kolo Muani, who once again caught the eye.
But Darmstadt by no means gave up. First, Tietz (65′) hit the post, only a little later Eintracht keeper Kevin Trapp made an excellent save against Tobias Kempe (66′), while Marvin Mehlem was offside when the shot went into the goal. The game remained hard-fought until the final minutes, only Kolo Muani made everything clear.