Eintracht Frankfurt advances to the final of the DFB Cup after beating VfB Stuttgart. The Hessians are initially behind, but can still win the game with an energy performance.
Eintracht Frankfurt has reached the final of the DFB Cup. Frankfurt won the semi-finals at VfB Stuttgart on Wednesday evening (May 3rd) in an explosive game by a narrow margin of 3:2 (0:1) and will now meet RB Leipzig on June 3rd in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, who clearly lost to SC Freiburg (5: 1) had prevailed. A disputed supposed handball scene heated up tempers shortly before the final whistle.
“We were lucky today”said Eintracht coach Oliver Glasner on ARD: “We’re really happy that we’re coming to Berlin. A huge compliment to the boys.”
VfB goalkeeper Fabian Bredlow said dejectedly: “The disappointment is of course huge”. Bredlow struggled with the controversial decision in added time, when Stuttgart were denied a penalty: “With a bit of luck we’ll get the penalty and we’ll make it 3-3 and it’s overtime.”
Hard fought game
In front of 47,700 spectators in the Stuttgart stadium, VfB initially seemed to be on the road to victory and deservedly took the lead through Tiago Tomás (19th). In the second half, however, Frankfurt turned up the heat and scored three goals from penalties through Evan Ndicka (51st), Daichi Kamada (55th) and Randal Kolo Muani (77th). Stuttgart’s Enzo Millot (83rd) only managed to get the goal back.
It was an intense, hard-fought game right from the start. Neither Stuttgart nor Frankfurt needed anything like a warm-up period to get into the game. Although it took 19 minutes for either team to create their first chance to score, they both made an effort early on to get the opening goal.
Tomás extremely effective
It was Tomás who used the first opportunity for the Stuttgart team to take the lead. The 20-year-old shot completely free on the right half from ten meters and after a nice back pass from Josha Vagnoman in the Frankfurt penalty area – and coldly turned the short corner into a 1-0 win for the Swabians.
Just two minutes later, Tomás had another chance, but this time the offensive player shot too quickly. And the Frankfurters? They were visibly shocked by the deficit and still couldn’t get beyond harmless offensive approaches. On the contrary: the Eintracht defensive was increasingly called for. VfB attacker Silas had the chance to increase after 35 minutes, but failed alone in front of Eintracht goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.
Frankfurt turns the tide
Only towards the end of the first half did the Hessians increase the pressure, except for a misplaced shot by Daichi Kamada, there was no goal threat. VfB, on the other hand, had another great opportunity again through Tomás in added time in the first half, but the Portuguese lost his step and shoved the ball wide of the Frankfurt goal from a tight angle after Trapp failed to hold on to a Vagnoman shot. Eintracht was lucky not to be further behind. But then the tide turned.
The Frankfurters came out of the dressing room with great verve and immediately constricted the Swabians. Kamada had an opportunity to equalize a minute after the restart, but the Japanese failed to hit the ball properly. Just five minutes later, Evan Ndicka (51st) did better. the defender equalized from eleven meters with a volley after a pass from Kolo Muani to make it 1:1.
Stuttgart is countered
And just four minutes later, Kamada scored from distance to make it 2-1 for Eintracht. VfB goalkeeper Fabian Bredlow didn’t look very good with this shot. Sebastian Hoeneß’ team needed a few minutes to recover from this double blow. And just as they were pushing for an equaliser, Frankfurt made the early decision.
After a Stuttgart free kick, Frankfurt countered the Stuttgart. Kamada with a long sprint all over the court and passes Kolo Muani. He tries to outplay goalkeeper Bredlow and gets penalties from him. The Frenchman grabs the ball and safely converts the penalty kick to 3:1.
Millot’s hit is no longer enough
However, the Swabians didn’t give up and continued to try everything – and made the game really exciting again. After 83 minutes, Millot only scored from distance to make it 2:3. There was hope in the air again for Stuttgart. But: VfB weakened itself because Borna Sosa saw yellow-red after 86 minutes after repeated foul play.
In injury time, Serhou Guirassy still had a chance to equalize with a free kick, but Trapp in the Frankfurt goal was able to parry. Eintracht escaped just over the finish line, also because a supposed handball in the Frankfurt penalty area was not recognized by referee Daniel Schlager at the last minute.
After a corner kick, the ball initially flew against Guirassy’s hip, from where he then jumped from a very short distance to Buta’s spread arm. The VAR intervened, referee Schlager looked at the scene in detail. The VfB fans trembled and hoped, but the decision caused frustration. Schlager decided not to award a penalty. The game was lost for VfB.