Borussia Dortmund 3 - 1 Eintracht Frankfurt: Borussia Dortmund get win over Eintracht Frankfurt at the end of a tough week

Posted Sunday, April 16, 2017 by PA

Borussia Dortmund ended a traumatic week with a 3-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in a match littered with memorable goals.

Dortmund were thrashed 4-1 by Bayern Munich last Saturday to see their slim Bundesliga title chances all but ended, but much worse was to follow in midweek as they became the victims of a bomb attack.

Three explosions went off near the Dortmund team coach ahead of Tuesday's scheduled Champions League home match with Monaco, with defender Marc Bartra suffering a fractured wrist that required surgery.

Less than 24 hours after that incident, Dortmund had to play their rearranged quarter-final first leg with Monaco and ended up suffering a 3-2 defeat, leaving their hopes of reaching the last four hanging in the balance.

It has been a week Dortmund will hope they never have to experience again, but they gave their fans something to cheer on Saturday with victory over Frankfurt.

This fixture had not produced a goalless draw since 1990 so it was no surprise to see a goal inside the opening three minutes, with Marco Reus giving the home side a flying start with an impudent finish.

Reus was initially in an offside position when the ball was played into the visiting box, but he stood still and Christian Pulisic nipped in to collect the ball ahead of Frankfurt keeper Lukas Hradecky before firing in a low cross that Reus cleverly flicked into the net with his heel.

With only one win in their last 19 league visits to Dortmund, Frankfurt must have feared the worst at that point but they were level by the half-hour mark thanks to Marco Fabian.

It was completely different to Reus' finish, but no less impressive as Fabian found the top corner with a brilliant 25-yard drive.

Frankfurt's joy turned to despair just four minutes later, though, as Dortmund re-took the lead with yet another stunning strike.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos strode forward from centre-back before skipping past an opponent and unleashing a shot from distance that, like Fabian's, arrowed into the far top corner of the net.

The visitors tried to get back on level terms but their hopes of getting anything out of the match ended when Dortmund notched a third goal following a counter-attack late on.

A long punt forward sent Ousmane Dembele away down the left and he picked out the run of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and the prolific forward, who had raced from the edge of his own box to support his team-mate, coolly dinked the ball over Hradecky to seal a much-welcomed win for Dortmund after a hugely difficult week.