Knocked out in Leipzig | OneFootball

Eintracht Frankfurt were beaten 3-0 by Leipzig in the DFB Cup round of 16.

Head coach Dino Toppmöller made two changes to his team following the 4-0 win at Heidenheim, with Hugo Ekitiké preferred to Igor Matanovic and Nnamdi Collins replacing the suspended Arthur Theate.

Dominant Leipzig take the lead

Leipzig came out fighting after their 5-1 defeat to Wolfsburg at the weekend and made the better start. Benjamin Sesko fired the first warning shot just wide of the post in the 11th minute. Kevin Trapp then had to be at full stretch to push Willi Orban’s header behind for a corner, from which the hosts had a goal disallowed for offside. A few minutes later, the ball was again in the Frankfurt net but the flag was up, before Lois Openda fired into the side netting from a tight angle.

It was a case of third time lucky for Leipzig, who eventually took the lead just after the half-hour mark. Antonio Nusa threaded the ball through to Sesko, who showed good footwork to sidestep both Robin Koch and Trapp before squeezing the ball in at the near post. Eintracht couldn’t muster a response, failing to register a shot on target in the first half, and they trailed at half-time for the first time this season.

No way back

The second half began with Fares Chaibi on for Hugo Larsson at the break, but hopes of a comeback were dented just three minutes after the restart. Eintracht lost possession on the right side in their own half and Leipzig broke quickly, Nusa cutting the ball back for Openda to slot into the gaping goal.

Toppmöller responded with a double substitution, with Ansgar Knauff and Niels Nkounkou replacing Collins and Mario Götze, but the Eagles soon found themselves three goals down. Once again Leipzig were quicker to the ball and Nusa again teed up Openda just outside the penalty area, and the Belgian fired an unstoppable shot into the top corner.

Eintracht had more possession now but still struggled to create opportunities. Oscar Højlund came on for more minutes following his comeback at Heidenheim, while Mo Dahoud was also introduced late on. It took until the 80th minute for the first shot on target to arrive for the visitors, but Ekitiké’s effort was too central. Leipzig advanced to the quarter-finals, while the Eagles’ run of seven consecutive wins in all competitions came to an end.