Saarbrücken stun Frankfurt as Brünker leads the way in Pokal odyssey
Having dumped Bayern Munich out in the previous round, Saarbrucken put in yet another giant-killing shift, this time dumping Eintracht Frankfurt out on a 2-0 scoreline.
The plucky 3.Liga side stuck to the task early on and appeared to have breached the Frankfurt defence in the 20th minute when Kai Brünker headed in from Rabihic’s corner. However, VAR and arbiter Daniel Siebert would chalk the goal off due to Naifi’s blatant shove on Koch in the same play. Frankfurt posed little threat outside from the ever-electric Omar Marmoush.
Brünker’s head did not drop and in the second half he rewarded for his patience. Naifi broke Schreiber’s long freekick and fed it to the towering striker who beat Pacho and leathered past Trapp. The ball had hit the net before the German national team goalkeeper could even react.
Die Adler lay strewn on the ropes in the 78th minute when Saarbrücken led 2-0. Larsson’s poor pass met Gaus, the winger crossed for Brünker who gave Julius Biada a tap in. Toppmöller’s night went from bad to worse as substitute Noel Futkeu received a straight red card for lashing out at Gaus off the ball. The 3.Liga outfit undoubtedly full value for their place in the last eight.