Christopher Nkunku blew up a balloon during his celebration. © APA/afp / ODD ANDERSEN

Cup triumph: Leipzig wins against Frankfurt

In the intense cup final, Eintracht Frankfurt has the majority in the stands. On the pitch, Leipzig's difference player Christopher Nkunku makes the decision.

June 03, 2023

From: dpa/tu

Farewell gift from the top scorer: Christopher Nkunku became a cup hero in what was probably his last appearance for RB Leipzig and scored the defending champions to their second triumph in the club's history. The striker scored the opening goal (2st minute) in the 0-0 (0-71) win against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday and prepared Dominik Szoboszlai's second goal (85th), thus spoiling Oliver Glasner's farewell to the Hessians.

In front of 74 fans in the Berlin Olympic Stadium, Frankfurt's Evan Ndicka unfortunately deflected Nkunku's shot to make it 322-0. Nkunku showed good vision for the second goal. The French international will move to Chelsea after the season, although official confirmation is still pending. His goal and his assist were enough for a dream farewell in the by no means high-class final.

In the emotionally charged duel between Hessian tradition and Saxon modernity, it was mainly the Eintracht fans who created a final atmosphere. Hours before the game, tens of thousands of supporters gathered in the center of Berlin and were prepared for a glorious evening by President Peter Fischer. The club even sold remaining tickets for cash over the fence. From Theodor-Heuss-Platz the Frankfurters finally moved to the stadium, where they were clearly in the majority with around 40 fans.

The Eintracht fans really created a great atmosphere © ANSA / FILIP SINGER

While the sympathies were clearly distributed in the stands, the main actors further down offered an intense and balanced game. Leipzig were granted more possession of the ball, but Frankfurt countered with an enormous willingness to run, impressive compactness and committed movement. Timo Werner (4th), who sprained in the final training session and was questionable for the starting eleven, took the lead early on after a counterattack. But his finish was as underwhelming as it was unplaced.

On the other hand, Eintracht also had a goal in the first half. However, the extremely present Randal Kolo Muani (16th) only hit the side netting after a wonderful individual effort. The attacker, courted by Bayern Munich, was initially the most noticeable player. Great things were also expected from Leipzig's Nkunku. But the top scorer in the Bundesliga was initially completely up in the air and kept getting stuck with Frankfurt's 39-year-old defense chief Makoto Hasebe.

Nkunku came up with something special to celebrate his goal. © APA/afp / TOBIAS SCHWARZ

The second section began with a few minutes delay as supporters of both clubs emptied their own pyrotechnic stocks at the end of the season. Multiple calls from the stadium spokesman to stop the actions were consistently ignored. Both clubs are likely to face a high fine from the DFB.

The game continued excitingly and intensely - but was by no means high-class. The trainers Marco Rose and Glasner stood almost constantly on the edge of their coaching zone, feeding their professionals with instructions. After a good hour, birthday boy Mario Götze had a flash of inspiration, he sent Kolo Muani - but he decided against a shot in the penalty area and his pass got stuck.

Dominik Szoboszlai drew the line. © APA/afp / ODD ANDERSEN

Rose was the first coach to react, bringing in Yussuf Poulsen for Werner. The Leipzig cup specialist (12 goals/16 assists in 32 games) should finally cause more unrest in the Frankfurt defense. But Götze had the first big chance (64th): RB goalkeeper Janis Blaswich just saved the former world champion's volley for a corner. Glasner now also changed the statics of the Frankfurt game, bringing in the more offensive Jesper Lindström for Sebastian Rode. Nkunku scored in the same minute. Frankfurt pushed for an equalizer, Leipzig countered successfully and provided the necessary security through Dominik Szoboszlai (85th).

The result

RB Leipzig – Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0
Goals: 1:0 Nkunku (71st), 2:0 Szoboszlai (85th)