Eagles labour into last 16 | OneFootball

Eintracht won 2-0 at Viktoria Köln in the DFB Cup second round, with Skhiri scoring early and Knauff wrapping it up late on.

After Sunday’s energy-sapping 3-3 draw with Borussia Dortmund, head coach Dino Toppmöller freshened things up with five changes. One of those was enforced with Kevin Trapp missing out due to his recurring back problem, so Jens Grahl returned between the sticks. Makoto Hasebe, Niels Nkounkou, Jens Petter Hauge and Jessic Ngankam also came into the side in place of Tuta, Philipp Max, Ansgar Knauff and Omar Marmoush.

Set-piece threat

The game began as expected, with Eintracht dominating possession and Viktoria defending courageously and looking for opportunities in transition. The deadlock was broken with the first real chance of the game, though. Farès Chaibi’s corner was flicked on by Robin Koch for Ellyes Skhiri to tap in at the far post – his third goal in a third different competition in a Frankfurt shirt. It was mainly from set pieces that Toppmöller’s men threatened, with Viktoria giving little away in open play.

The third-tier hosts then began to create chances of their own towards the end of the first half. Luca Marseiler’s effort had to be tipped over the bar by Grahl after he raced away on the counter, and from the resulting corner, the Frankfurt keeper produced another superb stop to keep out Moritz Fritz’s header. Eintracht regained control after that but couldn’t add to their lead before the break, with Ngankam’s shot from a tight angle their best effort.

Subs combine to seal it

The second half was largely a flat affair as Eintracht continued to have most of the possession but struggled to carve out chances, while Köln enjoyed spells of possession of their own without really penetrating the SGE defence. Toppmöller made a triple substitution of Marmoush, Knauff and Junior Dina Ebimbe to inject more life into the attack, but it was Köln who initially had the best chance when Skhiri had to block Christoph Greger’s shot on the line in the 67th minute.

The contest did liven up towards the end as the hosts gambled more and left gaps at the back. Marmoush forced a good save from goalkeeper Ben Voll from a free kick on the edge of the area, but the crucial second goal eventually arrived in the last minute of regular time. Marmoush, Paxten Aaronson and Knauff led a three-v-one counter-attack, with the latter rolling the ball into the empty net to confirm the Eagles’ place in the round of 16.

SGE line-up

Grahl – Koch (Tuta 46’), Hasebe, Pacho – Buta (Dina Ebimbe 63’), Larsson, Skhiri, Nkounkou – Chaibi (Aaronson 82’), Hauge (Knauff 63’) – Ngankam (Marmoush 63’)

Goals 0-1 Skhiri (14’) 0-2 Knauff (90')