Felix Nmecha admits lack of cutting edge in Frankfurt win
Borussia Dortmund star Felix Nmecha admits that his side lacked the cutting edge to put their chances away in the 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
For 80 minutes, the tie was locked at 0-0 as Maximilian Beier came off the bench to break the deadlock with a spectacular curled effort right on the box that eventually sealed all three points for them.
Having drawn in their last two consecutive league outings, Dortmund were on the brink of a third one here despite creating a handful of chances. But they weren't able tomake them count.
Nmecha lamented about this after the match but was delighted at his side's creative ability. Speaking to the press, he said:
We had the chances, but in the end that final touch wasn’t quite there. At the same time, it feels good that we created so many chances.
Dortmund's first real attempt came through Fabio Silva, who blazed a shot high into the stands from the edge of the box before Serhou Guirassy saw two effort saved by Frankfurt goalkeeper Noah Atubolu in a space of two minutes, including a one-on-one chance.
Daniel Svensson attempted one midway through the first half but it deflected off a Frankfurt defender to bounce off the crossbar while Felix Nmecha's shot from near the byline too was saved by Atubolu.
Ultimately, substitutes made the difference for Die Borussen as Jobe Bellingham and Maximilian Beier both came off the bench to combine superbly and produce the winning goal.
Ramy Bensebaini played Beier on the left with a long pass, and the German cut it forward for Bellingham, who raced into acres of space on the left before turning around and spotting Beier's sprint towards the box. The former Birmingham City star then squared it back for the forward to take a touch and curl a powerful strike into the far corner.
That just goes to show the nature of football these days: You have so many games, and you need a strong roster. In the end, we provided proof of that by having two players come on and make the difference.
With back-to-back wins now, Dortmund are gaining momentum just in time for two tricky fixtures this week, first a DFB-Pokal second-round clash with Werder Bremen at home on Tuesday, before reuniting with arch-rivals Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in a crunch Bundesliga encounter on Saturday.
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