MOENCHENGLADBACH: Eintracht Frankfurt won 7-6 in a penalty shoot-out at Borussia Moenchengladbach after a 1-1 draw on Tuesday to reach the German Cup final for the first time in 11 years and set up a showdown with either holders Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund.
On a nervy night, Taleb Tawatha put the visitors ahead after a dominant quarter of an hour with Gladbach, who were missing eight players through injury, looking without a game plan for the entire first half.
Ibrahima Traore found some space in first half stoppage time to cross and home winger Jonas Hofmann volleyed in at the far post to equalise.
The hosts improved in the second half but created few chances in a lacklustre game that meandered towards penalties.
The first 12 spot-kicks were scored before Frankfurt goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky saved Andreas Christensen’s effort for Gladbach.
On-loan Manchester United full-back Guillermo Varela couldn’t capitalise as Yann Sommer saved his penalty.
But Djibril Sow’s spot-kick was the third in a row to be saved before Swedish midfielder Branimir Hrgota stepped up to fire home the winner against his former club.
The striker has scored only five goals during a lackluster season since signing from Gladbach but he found the target when it mattered in the team’s biggest game of the season so far.
Eintracht, who lost the 2006 final to Bayern, won the last of their four German Cups in 1988.
Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2017
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