Frankfurt Upsets Bayern Munich to Win German Cup Final
Bayern Munich suffered a shock 3-1 defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt in the DFB-Pokal final to end their dreams of winning a domestic double in Jupp Heynckes’ last game in charge of the club.
Frankfurt manager Niko Kovač will take over at the Allianz Arena this summer, but the 46-year-old was fully focused on the task at hand and the Eagles’ win has ensured European football will be played at the Commerzbank-Arena next season.
Ante Rebić was the star of the show for Frankfurt as the Croatian notched two breakaway goals either side of Robert Lewandowski’s strike, with Mijat Gaćinović putting the icing on the cake with the last kick of the game.
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Frankfurt started the stronger of the two sides at Berlin's Olympiastadion, but Carlos Salcedo needlessly gave away a free kick and Robert Lewandowski was inches away from scoring from the resulting set-piece - denied only by the underside of the crossbar.
And the Eagles capitalised minutes later when a miss placed pass from James Rodríguez allowed Ante Rebić to break past Bayern Munich's defence, firing a right-footed strike into Sven Ulreich's near post to give Frankfurt a shock lead.=
Thomas Müller wasted a guilt-edged chance to respond immediately before Joshua Kimmich also misplaced a seemingly routine header, with Lukáš Hrádecký remaining largely untroubled throughout the remainder of the first half.
Kevin-Prince Boateng and Marius Wolf both had half chances before the break but Frankfurt were unable to double their advantage, and the Eagles survived a late scare to take their narrow advantage into half time
Boateng stung the palms of Sven Ulreich less than two minutes after the restart as Frankfurt looked to catch Bayern Munich off guard once again.
But it was the Bavarians who struck first in the second half, with star man Robert Lewandowski maintaining his 100% goalscoring record in the cup this season to claw the Reds back into the game.
Niklas Süle and Joshua Kimmich combined well down the right-hand side before the latter of the two defenders pulled the ball back to the edge of the box where the Poland international stroked the ball past a wrong-footed Hrádecký.
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Boateng and Omar Mascarell tried their luck with audacious efforts from distance but Bayern Munich were resilient in their defending, with the introduction of Corentin Tolisso and Kingsley Coman offering Frankfurt with an entirely new threat.
Lewandowski was inches away from completing the turnaround with just 15 minutes left on the clock, with Mats Hummels then seeing his looping header denied by the face of the crossbar.
And Frankfurt made Bayern Munich pay for their missed opportunities when Ante Rebić converted another fantastic counter-attack to send the Eagles into party mode - with the clever finish from the Croatian even surviving a review from the VAR.
Frankfurt survived a number of late attacks from Bayern Munich as well as a strong penalty shout before Mijat Gaćinović raced the length of the pitch to put the icing on the cake with an outstanding solo goal with the last kick of the game.
