Mkhitaryan at the double for Dortmund
Frankfurt - Borussia Dortmund collected a fourth consecutive win to move top of the Bundesliga standing courtesy of a 2-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt at the Commerzbank Arena.
Mkhitaryan opens his account
Henrikh Mkhitaryan bagged a brace either side of Vaclav Kadlec's equaliser for Frankfurt as, despite a few nervy moments late on, Jürgen Klopp’s side capitalised on FC Bayern München dropping points earlier in the week.
Both sides traded blows in the opening stages with Takeshi Inui forcing Roman Weidenfeller into an early save, before Kevin Trapp reacted well to save from Jakub Blaszczykowski. However, it was the visitors who took the lead after ten minutes when Mkhitaryan latched onto Blaszczykowski’s precise through ball before finding the bottom corner. Robert Lewandowski went close to extending BVB's lead soon after, but Trapp got a firm hand to the ball as the Polish international atempted to round the Frankfurt keeper.
Chances were not hard to come by for either side, as Kadlec was put clean through by Jan Rosenthal only to be foiled by the onrushing Weidenfeller. Trapp followed suit saving Lewandowski's header, before Kadlec made up for his earlier miss with a 36th-minute equaliser. Inui’s cross was headed against the post by Aigner, but the Czech striker was well-placed and didn't hesitate in dispatching the rebound.
Dortmund back in front
The equaliser seemed to wake up the home faithful inside the Commerzbank Arena, who had been fairly subdued since Mkhitaryan’s opener. The Eagles began putting Dortmund on the back foot following Kadlec’s leveller and almost took advantage of some suspect defending at the start of the second half, yet no Frankfurt player was able to put the finishing touches on a poor Dortmund clearance.
Just as it seemed the home side’s pressure might result in a goal, Mkhitaryan grabbed his second of the evening with a fine solo effort. The Armenian international picked the ball up on the right wing and advanced past Johannes Flum towards the Frankfurt box, before curling a wonderful shot into Trapp’s bottom right-hand corner.
Anderson goes close
Undeterred by Mkhitaryan’s second goal, Frankfurt continued to press in search of a response and almost found one when Bamba Anderson headed against the post following Aigner’s corner. Jürgen Klopp’s side weren't content to sit back though as Marco Reus found Lewandowski, whose deflected shot was well held by Trapp.
The Eagles piled forward late on, but after Inui’s shot eight minutes from time was blocked by Kevin Großkreutz, the Yellow-Blacks kept the hosts at arm's length to secure all three points and leapfrog FC Bayern in the Bundesliga standings.
Line-ups and statistics
