Gittens' brace sparks stalling Dortmund past Frankfurt

In a cagey and sometimes sleepy affair at Signal Iduna Park on Saturday evening, Nuri Sahin's Borussia Dortmund were able to ensure that their 2024/25 Bundesliga campaign began with a victory. The Bundesliga's perennial also-rans eked out a 2-0 victory over Dino Toppmöller's Eintracht Frankfurt in the new Bundesliga campaign's very first "Top-Spiel". Newly christened young English phenom "Jamie Gittens" proved the absolute star of the show. The talented English youngster bagged a brace. The two goals constituted quality diamonds in an otherwise rough match. 

Just as he did last week in the Pokal victory, Sahin initially rolled out a 3-4-3 that did not feature a natural striker. The lone personnel change from the previous XI saw Donyell Malen take over for Jamie Gittens at the left wingback slot. SGE trainer Toppmöller too didn't see the need to tweak the team he fielded for the Pokal much. Only new signing Arthur Theate took over for Niels Nkounkou at the left back position. There did appear to be a formation change, with the Pokal 4-2-3-1 functioning more as a 4-2-2-2. 

The visiting Hessians - with Omar Marmoush working as a service striker behind Hugo Ekitiké - were able to make some small incursions in the attacking zone, but neither team could truly manage to furnish something highlight-worthy in the opening half hour. The remaining 15 minutes of the first-half featured some halfhearted appeals for penalties from both sides; something of a function of two frustrated sides who couldn't supply any quality from open play.

Despite the fact that the opening 45 was entirely flaccid, neither coach opted to employ any changes at the half. Matters picked up slightly after the restart, with Julian Brandt again showing some of the same spunk he demonstrated last week. Brandt flashed a close-range effort wide in the 49th. Some eight minutes later, Marmoush worked in a decent effort from a tight angle that BVB keeper Gregor Kobel had to save. 

A double substitution from Sahin near the hour mark injected some new pace into the Westphalian hosts. Gittens and new acquisition Maximilian Beier came on as like-for-like swaps for the disappointing Malen and Karim Adeyemi. BVB defenders Niklas Süle and Waldemar Anton engineered some marginally threatening efforts. The best chance of the entire match still belonged to Frankfurt, with Fares Chaibi spurning a great chance in the 71st.

Shortly after Chaibi's chance, Dortmund substitute Gittens notched the 1-0 with some real quality. The young Englishman cut into the penalty with a silky dribble in the 72nd. After leaving marker Rasmus Kristensen standing, Gittens fired home an impressive finish directly underneath the crossbar. Though the full credit for the 1-0 belonged to the 20-year-old, Pascal Groß was able to record his third assist in competitive play this year on the tally. 

Toppmöller reacted with his own double change, introducing new signings Can Uzun and Oscar Højlund in the 76th. Nothing much came from the SGE subs, however. Only a near inadvertent own-goal from Waldemar Anton in the 78th gave Eintracht some hope of equalizing. It appeared as if the match would come to a quiet conclusion, but Gittens had one more word to say at the death. 

BVB sub Ramy Bensebaini set up the 2-0 with a fine tackle against SGE striker Igor Matanovic at 90+3. The Algerian international then sent Gittens back the other way. Cool and confident, Gittens kept possession on the run and made the finish past Eintracht captain Trapp look easy. The sixth league tally of the London native's Bundesliga career served as a proper lid for the match.