Frankfurt show their class to break down stubborn Braunschweig

The final fixture of Monday’s DfB Pokal entertainment made for a ‘battle of the Eintrachts’. In which, second-half goals from Farès Chaïbi, two from Hugo Ekitiké, and Igor Matanović gave Frankfurt a 4-1 win over Braunschweig.

It was a routine evening in the end for Dino Toppmöller’s charges who ensured their place in the second round of Germany’s premier cup competition with a convincing win over their 2.Bundesliga opponents tonight. However, Die Adler were made work bitterly hard in the first-half by a determined Braunschweig side who created the better opportunities up until that juncture.

The yellow and blue coloured barricade in front of Lennart Grill’s goal eventually crumbled when Frankfurt opened the scoring on 53 minutes. Some nifty work down the left between Marmoush and Ekitiké allowed the latter to cross for Farès Chaïbi who tapped home from close range. The Ekitiké show followed three minutes later to make it 2-0. Frankfurt’s French striker sauntered through three defenders, played a one-two with Marmoush before converting. 

Briefly after hour, Ekitiké bagged his brace after a delightfully chipped finish over Grill. Hugo Larsson’s chested pass for the assist worthy of a second look. As the game neared its conclusion, Marmoush provided the set-piece delivery for substitute Igor Matanović to head home. 

The penultimate cheer of the night went up a minute later – Fabio Di Michele Sanchez found space behind the Frankfurt rearguard to square for Levente Szabo who plundered the consolation goal. A small blot on the copybook of what was a rather successful night for Eintracht Frankfurt who advance.