It’s over! The wait for a first major trophy in over five years for the Dortmund fans is finally over, as their side edged past Eintracht Frankfurt in the DFB Pokal final at the Olympiastadion. Ousmane Dembele’s superb goal handed the Black and Yellows an early lead but Ante Rebic capitalised on Sokratis’ gift to make it 1 – 1 inside the first half.
However, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who might have been playing his last game for Dortmund, came up with the winner in the second half and handed Dortmund their fourth DFB Cup triumph in the club’s history.
Borussia Dortmund’s Players Rated And Slated In Their Trophy Winning 2-1 Victory Over Frankfurt
Roman Burki (7.5/10):
looked very shaky, especially in the first half, where he tried to win a few duels but failed to do so. He, did, however, make a couple of decent saves, when Ante Rebic shot one from inside the box from a steep angle.
Lukasz Piszczek (7.5/10):
Was decent in the first half, where he was mostly seen in the opposition half. Was forced to play a deeper role as the game progressed and at the end, he was seen operating as a centre-half for the final phase of the game.
Marc Bartra (8/10):
Played as the right sided central defender due to Marcel Schmelzer playing as the LCB on the night. Bartra made some useful interceptions and his pressing was top notch.
Sokratis (7/10):
Had a shaky game throughout the night. Sokratis failed to keep out potential threats in Ante Rebic or Haris Seferovic. Tried to dribble his way through the offensive pressure of Frankfurt and paid the price, as the failed attempt led to a counter attack, from which Rebic scored the equaliser.
Marcel Schmelzer (7/10):
Played the role of a centre back and failed to keep the opposition quiet as Frankfurt found acres of space on the break. Not exactly a great game for the Dortmund captain.
Raphael Guerreiro (8/10):
The 22-year-old midfielder also had a pretty average game. He failed to make much of an impact on the offensive side of things, whilst completely failing to stop the marauding runs of Timothy Chandler on the left flank. However, looked very much influential in the second half, as he took part in a lot of Dortmund’s progress in the final third.
Matthias Ginter (7.5/10):
Probably for the first time ever this season, Matthias Ginter played the role of a central defensive midfielder. Was superb in the first half, but his performance started to fade as the game went on, so he had to be shifted to his normal centre back position for the final minutes of the game.
Shinji Kagawa (7.5/10):
Nothing much to enjoy for the Japan International as he was tightly marked by the Eintracht defence.A few good passes in the final third was all he could muster out, from a game where he was given so little space.
Ousmane Dembele (8.5/10):
A beast in the first half, Dembele started literally every Dortmund attack in the first half and caused havoc for the likes of Oczipka and Jesus Vallejo. His superb solo goal proved his credential as a big game player as he effortlessly feined across Vallejo to sweetly put the ball past goalkeeper Hradecky for the Dortmund opener.
Marco Reus (7.5/10):
Was involved in a lot of running and scrambling but a collision with Timothy Chandler limited his stay on the pitch as he was subbed off for Christian Pulisic after the break. Nonetheless, he was overwhelmed for his first major trophy in his career.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (9/10):
He was also a very important part of Dortmund’s attacking resource. Stayed close to the opposition defence and constantly kept them busy. Finally converted the spot kick to score the winner, which turned out to be his 40th of the season in all competitions, something he has never managed before in his career.
Subs
Christian Pulisic (9/10):
Replaced Reus in the second half and turned the game on its head completely. The American wonder kid showed his magic by constantly shredding the Frankfurt defence with his direct running. Won the penalty which led to the winning goal by Aubameyang.
Erik Durm (7.5/10):
Played a handy role after coming in, as he blocked a shot from Alex Meier, which was travelling towards the goal at increasingly high speed. Made some decent run-ins and ultimately helped Dortmund see off the one goal advantage.
Gonzalo Castro (NA):
Was brought on late just to add more solidity to the Dortmund midfield.
