Dortmund cruise to comfortable win over Frankfurt
Dortmund - Borussia Dortmund recorded their second win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the space of four days with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Armin Veh’s side at the Signal Iduna Park.
Aubameyang strikes twice
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang fired BVB into the lead with ten minutes on the clock, and the 24-year-old grabbed his second of the game from close range after Kevin Trapp had failed to hold onto Manuel Friedrich’s header. Lewandowski made it 3-0 from the penalty spot two minutes into the second half, before Bundesliga debutant Milos Jojic sealed a straightforward victory for Jürgen Klopp’s team 17 seconds after coming on as a substitute.
BVB, who reached the semi-finals of the DFB Cup on Tuesday with a 1-0 victory over the Eagles at the Commerzbank Arena, started brightly and took a deserved lead inside the first ten minutes. Aubameyang, whose late goal secured Dortmund’s passage into the last four in midweek, was in the right place at the right time to tap home Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s low cross after Frankfurt’s Sebastian Jung had lost the ball cheaply inside his own half.
Visting keeper Trapp then did well to save from Robert Lewandowski after the striker had worked his way into the box, but the 23-year-old custodian was unable to prevent Aubameyang doubling his personal tally for the afternoon from close range after Friedrich had headed on a corner. Trapp managed to get a hand to the centre-back’s header, but he failed to hold onto the ball and the Gabon international gratefully stroked home.
Lewandowski spot on
At the other end, Frankfurt were offering precious little threat in attack, although Roman Weidenfeller had to be on his toes to keep out Constant Djakpa’s long-range free-kick on the half-hour mark. That was as good as it got for the visitors in the opening 45 minutes, however, and they could even have gone into the break further behind, but Trapp produced a fine save to deny Lewandowski three minutes before half-time.
The Bayern-bound striker didn’t have to wait long to get his name on the scoresheet. Two minutes into the second half, Djakpa was adjudged to have hauled down Lewandowski inside the penalty area, and the referee wasted no time in pointing to the spot. Lewandowski promptly stepped up and fired the ball beyond Trapp to extend the hosts’ comfortable advantage.
Dream debut
Jürgen Klopp’s side showed little sign of taking their foot off the pedal and nearly made it four when Marcel Schmelzer got on the end of Lukasz Piszczek’s cross, but Djakpa did well to clear the left-back’s goal-bound header off the line. Großkreutz was then denied by Trapp, before Jojic replaced Mkhitaryan for his Bundesliga debut with twenty minutes remaining. Seventeen seconds later, the January signing had opened his account for the club, side-footing into an empty net after Trapp had pulled off another save from Großkreutz.
Sahin was next to go close with a rising shot from the edge of the box, while Großkreutz continued to try his luck from distance, but the 25-year-old's latest effort failed to trouble the Frankfurt goal. Dortmund seemed content to play down the clock in the final ten minutes, clearly satisfied with a 4-0 victory that stretches their winning run in all competitions to four.
Line-ups and statistics
Matthew Howarth
