Borussia Dortmund have broken their silverware drought, winning the German Cup final at the fourth consecutive attempt. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang sealed the win with an ice cool penalty.
A tough - and almost tragic - Dortmund season ended in their first serious silverware in five yearsImage: picture alliance/GES/M. Ibo Güngör
Borussia Dortmund won the 2017 German Cup at the fourth time of asking, beating Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. French starlet Ousmane Dembele gave the Black and Yellows an early lead before Ante Rebic scored a deserved equalizer for Frankfurt.
Despite both teams hitting the woodwork, Bundesliga top scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored the winner from the penalty spot after goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky brought down Christian Pulisic in the box midway through the second half.
With Julian Weigl injured after breaking his ankle in the penultimate Bundesliga game of the season, coach Thomas Tuchel opted for Matthias Ginter in defensive midfield instead of Nuri Sahin, justifying his decision by saying he expected long balls from a physical Frankfurt side.
Making their first appearance in the cup final since 2006, Eintracht coach Niko Kovac handed Slobodan Medojevic his debut in place of Guillermo Varela, after the Argentinian loanee from Manchester United was internally suspended for having a tattoo. Up front, Rebic and Haris Seferovic lead the line.
In pictures: Dortmund break their finals curse
Dortmund's 2-1 win against Frankfurt ended a lengthy series of finishes as runners-up. At the fourth German Cup final attempt in four years, a record in itself, BVB have sealed their first major trophy since 2012.
Image: Reuters/F. Bensch
Bridesmaids no more
Dortmund finally got their hands on a major trophy after years often spent reaching the final hurdle, but falling at it. The game was a hard-fought 2-1 win against a spirited Eintracht Frankfurt in Berlin. There was also a new face handing over the trophy, new German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who replaced Joachim Gauck this year.
Image: Reuters/M. Dalder
Reus' first major trophy
Some facts simply do not seem right. For instance, the fact that Marco Reus had never won a major competition in his career. That unlucky run was finally buried on Saturday. Reus had joined Dortmund in 2012, just after their double-winning season with Jürgen Klopp. The "Pechvogel" (literally an "unlucky bird") of German footie also missed the 2014 World Cup (and Euro 2016) with injury.
Image: Reuters/F. Bensch
Tuchel's trophy, and the end of the drought
Coach Thomas Tuchel might be leaving Dortmund in the off-season. If he does, he can now do so with a major men's trophy on his CV. Niko Kovac's side put up a sturdy fight in Berlin. For Dortmund, the victory ended a drought dating all the way back to the 2012 German Cup final. Despite reaching a string of finals, even the biggest of them all, the Black and Yellows had lost the lot.
Image: Reuters/M. Dalder
The decisive penalty
Substitute Christian Pulisic, on for the luckless Marco Reus, secured the penalty that led to Dortmund's victory. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's ice-cold finish restored the lead Dortmund had taken in just the eighth minute - before Frankfurt's Ante Rebic equalized.
Image: Reuters/F. Bensch
Cheeky chip, and a fitting farewell?
Aubameyang's disguised, lofted penalty down the middle was designed both to deceive and embarrass Frankfurt keeper Lukas Hradecky. It succeeded on both fronts. Aubameyang had a strong second half in what's rumored to be his last match at Dortmund. Long a transfer target for several top teams, his contract through 2020 might not mean much if the right offer is tabled.
Image: Reuters/M. Dalder
Bartra's glee after bomb injury
The night also offered a more positive emotional rollercoaster for Marc Bartra, the player injured in April's bomb attack on BVB's team bus. The Spanish defender, who returned for Dortmund in time for the end of the league season, is still wearing a protective cast after sustaining lacerations and a fractured wrist in the attack.
Image: Reuters/F. Bensch
2012's thrashing that's becoming a mere memory
There's no doubt when Jürgen Klopp's Borussia Dortmund tenure peaked. On May 12, 2012, Dortmund secured the domestic double, humiliating Bayern Munich 5-2 in Berlin. More than a fitting way to cap off a successful Bundesliga title defense. It's safe to say the result got Bayern's attention. Before long, many of Dortmund's stars would move to Munich.
Image: Getty Images
Hat trick hero, later to defect
Robert Lewandowski netted three that day in Berlin, and probably didn't realize it would be the last major trophy he would win with Dortmund. He'd face further disappointment in finals against Bayern, before moving to join their ranks on a free transfer. He wasn't alone in making that move; just ask Mario Götze (now back at Dortmund) and Mats Hummels.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Stache
Losing the big one to treble-winning Bayern
Bayern hit back in the following season under Jupp Heynckes, first winning the domestic double to equal Dortmund's achievements in the previous season. But the campaign culminated in Wembley, as the two German rivals met in the Champions League final. Dortmund couldn't stop Bayern securing the triple, ultimately losing 2-1 on an 89th-minute Arjen Robben goal.
Image: Reuters
Extra time defeat in 2014
Back in Berlin a year later, Klopp's Dortmund sought to at least claim the cup after Pep Guardiola's Bayern dominated the Bundesliga campaign. Despite holding Bayern to a 0-0 over 90 minutes, Arjen Robben (once again) and Thomas Müller scuppered Dortmund in extra time. By this point, former Dortmunder Mario Götze was in Bayern's starting lineup, and Lewandowski was playing his last game for BVB.
Image: Reuters
Different opponent, same result
In 2015, it was Wolfsburg claiming the cup at Dortmund's expense. The Wolves triumphed 3-1 on the night to claim the club's first ever German Cup win. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had put Dortmund ahead early, only for Luiz Gustavo, Kevin De Bruyne and Bas Dost to turn the game around with a first-half goal each.
Image: Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch
Bowing out in defeat
The 2015 final defeat to Wolfsburg was Jürgen Klopp's last match at the helm in Dortmund. The cup had provided welcome distraction and hope for the club in the 14-15 season, when Dortmund spent months down in the relegation dogfight. Some strong form late in the season ultimately salvaged seventh place in the league, but silverware was a bridge too far in Berlin.
Image: Reuters/Ina Fassbender
New coach, same result
Dortmund made history just by making it to Berlin this Saturday. No German club has ever competed in four consecutive DFB Pokal finals. The third of these, 2016's final, was Thomas Tuchel's first at Dortmund and Pep Guardiola's last at Bayern. After 120 goalless minutes, Bayern ultimately triumphed on penalties. For Dortmund, Sokratis and Sven Bender had the misfortune of missing from the spot.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/B. Thissen
Yet another difficult farewell
It's becoming something akin to a rite of passage for Dortmund stars - playing your last game for BVB in a final against your future employers, Bayern Munich. Club captain Mats Hummels became the last to cross said divide in 2016. Fans didn't know it at the time, but Mario Götze would book his return ticket to Dortmund later that summer after his stuttering spell with Munich.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/C. Stache
14 images1 | 14
Reus and Dembele impress early on
Seemingly determined to finally win a major senior honor, it was Marco Reus who provided the early sparks for Dortmund, twice penetrating behind the Frankfurt defense on the left-hand-side as smoke from the yellow end of the Olympic Stadium billowed across the field.
But the opening goal came from the opposite flank. Reus found Lukasz Piszczek with a sweeping cross-field pass out to the right and the Pole quickly forwarded the ball in to Dembele. The French teenager turned Jesus Vallejo inside-out in the box before firing high into the roof of the net.
A dream start for Dortmund but a nightmare for a Frankfurt side who have struggled to score goals in the second half of the season. Still, Kovac's side seemed inspired by their second-half comeback against RB Leipzig on the final day of the season and poured forward; Shinji Kagawa only just stopped Haris Seferovic with a last-ditch challenge before Timothy Chandler headed wide from an Ante Rebic cross.
Frankfurt respond
Backed by over 20,000 raucous Frankfurters in matching t-shirts, the Eagles were hunting with real menace and they got their reward on the half-hour mark. Mexican playmaker Marco Fabian won the ball inside the Dortmund half before Mijat Gacinovic split open the defense with a through ball to Rebic. One-on-one with Bürki, the Croatian made no mistake and the cup final was all-square.
Ten minutes later, Frankfurt almost took the lead. Again winning possession high up the pitch, Rebic and Seferovic combined with a crisp one-two, but the latter's shot came back off the post.
A doubt before kick-off, Marcel Schmelzer had given an encouraging thumbs-up after the warm-up but the Dortmund captain only lasted 45 minutes before being replaced by Gonzalo Castro at half-time. The luckless Reus had also received treatment in the first half and was ultimately forced to make way for Christian Pulisic at the break.
Tuchel had a stressful match - injuries forced him to burn all three available substitutionsImage: Reuters/F. Bensch
Aubameyang on the spot
It would be unfair to suggest that Frankfurt's marginal first-half superiority was due to the presence of two unfit Dortmund players, but the half-time changes had an effect as the Black and Yellows made a positive start to the second half. Just after the hour mark, the ever-dangerous Dembele cut back to Aubameyang but the Gabonese's acrobatic effort was cleared off the line by Fabian - with a helping hand from the crossbar.
Minutes later, Tuchel's substitution took effect. Raphael Guerreiro lofted a ball into the path of Pulisic and the American was brought down clumsily by Hradecky. Aubameyang made no mistake from the spot, chipping home cheekily to give Dortmund the lead.
With five minutes remaining, Aubameyang could have wrapped up the win, staying on his feet and turning inside past David Abraham but his shot clipped the outside of the post. Unfortunately for a valiant Frankfurt side, it wasn't a miss Aubameyang would come to regret as Dortmund ended a run of three straight cup final defeats.
Will these two still be with Dortmund next season?Image: Reuters/M. Dalder
Excluding the German Super Cup, Dortmund had not won any silverware since the 2012 German Cup.
You can re-read our play-by-play coverage of the game below.
