Borussia Dortmund slumped to a 2-0 loss at Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday for its third straight Bundesliga defeat that deepened the crisis at the Ruhr Valley club.
The result piles more pressure on already-embattled Dortmund coach Nuri Sahin, who still enjoyed the backing of club bosses after its midweek defeat by struggling Holstein Kiel.
The visitors did have the first chance in the game, but Serhou Guirassy’s ninth-minute header bounced off the post.
They were then caught completely off guard nine minutes later when Eintracht broke clear, and Hugo Ekitike, who launched the move, slotted in to complete it.
Eintracht, which was without top striker Omar Marmoush, came close to a second goal four minutes later, but Ansgar Knauff’s curled effort bounced off the post.
The club had said before the game that transfer talks were ongoing with an unnamed club for Egyptian forward Marmoush’s transfer.
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Manchester City is reportedly close to signing the striker, who walked onto the pitch after the end of the game to congratulate his Eintracht teammates in what was likely his last appearance in front of the home fans.
Dortmund, which travels to Bologna for the Champions League on Tuesday, could not find a way back into the game despite pressing for an equaliser, with Serhou Guirassy twice calling for a penalty after going down in the box but instead earning a booking.
It was Eintracht which struck again when Oscar Hojlund found far too much space to charge into the box and seal Dortmund’s third defeat in three league matches this year.
“At the end of the day, football is a results-based sport, and we could not get a result again today,” said Dortmund midfielder Pascal Gross.
“It was a decent performance from us in the second half, but that has to be the standard. The performance was alright, but that should be the norm. We did not win the game, and at the end of the day, we cannot get anything out of this game.”
Eintracht’s third win in a row tightened its hold on third spot in the standings with 36 points, two behind defending champion Bayer Leverkusen in second place, which takes on Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday. Dortmund is a distant 10th on 25.