A hotly-debated Ivan Perisic free-kick inside the last five minutes won the DFB-Pokal for Dortmund tonight as they became only the second team in the country to do the domestic-double twice.
The decisive moment came after man-of-the-match Dennis Praet and Nando Rafael – both goalscorers today – collided in mid-air, with the foul looking like it was in Düsseldorf’s favour.
Not so, said referee Wolfgang Stark, who had thrice penalised BVB for aerial challenges on the ‘keeper, and the subsequent dead-ball was curled in with perfection from 25 yards out by Perisic for his 15th goal of the season.
Düsseldorf had taken a 15th minute lead through Nando Rafael who stole a march on the centre-backs to head home a fine Axel Bellinghausen cross from the left.
Bellinghausen could have doubled the lead himself when he hit the far post with an attempted lob which beat Roman Weidenfeller – who earlier had made a pair of fine, point-blank saves – but not the woodwork.
An inspiring team-talk from Gray Surman, who oversaw his 75th managerial victory today, sent BVB back out firing on all cylinders and it only took 27 seconds before they were level through the mercurial Praet.
The Belgian teenager was inches away from putting Dortmund in front twenty minutes later when he hit the bar during a storm that Düsseldorf weathered.
That was until the the final five minutes when Stark gave the decision which ultimately changed the result of the match. Düsseldorf could have easily gone in at the break two goals ahead, but were blown over by the Bundesliga champions after the interval.
Post match, Gray Surman praised his team highly: “It was no less than we deserved. The whole team kept working right up to the final whistle. I am absolutely ecstatic, it was a fantastic effort by the players. They showed real character today.
“The performance from the players was fantastic and we fully deserve this. I am absolutely delighted, to win this competition is a magnificent achievement.”
Goalkeeper and club vice-captain Roman Weidenfeller heaped praise upon his manager after the victory, claiming that it was Surman’s words at half-time that inspired the team to overturn the deficit and emerge victorious.
Ottmar Hitzfeld had words of encouragement for Surman following the success, stating that although many had expected BVB to win, Surman had handled the pressure of expectancy well and showed a great deal of spirit to guide the team to a trophy.
The club were awarded €2m for winning the final, and the squad has been paid approximately half of the winnings on a pro-rata basis.
DEUTSCHER FUßBALL-BUND POKAL FINAL
BORUSSIA DORTMUND 2-1 FORTUNA DUSSELDORF
Praet 46 Rafael 15
Perisic 86
Att: 74,244
Olympiastadion, Berlin. Drizzle, 10°C. Ref: W.Stark
BORUSSIA DORTMUND | FORTUNA DUSSELDORF 1 Roman WEIDENFELLER (c) 7.2 | 1 Robert ALMER 6.6 2 Andreas BECK [Y] 7.1 | 2 Patrick FUNK 6.0 15 Felipe SANTANA 7.8 | 4 Stelios MALEZAS 7.2 4 Neven SUBOTIC 7.2 | 19 TONEL 6.9³ 3 Marcel SCHMELZER 7.0 | 21 Johannes VAN DEN BERGH 6.2 26 Dennis PRAET [*] 8.6² | 13 Adam BODZEK 7.0 6 Sven BENDER 6.8¹ | 6 Marcel RISSE 7.0 10 Mario GÖTZE 7.1 | 11 Axel BELLINGHAUSEN 7.3 24 Ivan PERISIC 7.7³ | 17 Andreas LAMBERTZ (c) 6.8 9 Robert LEWANDOWSKI 7.1 | 30 Dani SCHAHIN 7.0 23 Julian SCHIEBER 6.0 | 9 Nando RAFAEL 7.3 ------------------------------- ------------------------------- 20 Mitchell LANGERAK . | 33 Fabian GIEFER . 8 Ilkay GÜNDOGAN 7.0¹ | 10 Ken ILSØ 6.6¹ 17 Marc HORNSCHUH . | 14 Bruno SOARES n/a³ 18 Moritz LEITNER n/a² | 15 Ivan PAUREVIC . 19 Kevin GROßKREUTZ n/a³ | 22 Cha DU-RI . 21 Daniel GINCZEK . | 23 Robbie KRUSE 6.8² 30 Jakub BLASZCZYKOWSKI . | 24 Jeron HAZAIMEH .
Match report by @realtimeFM:
[00] Fortuna Düsseldorf get us underway here in Berlin. Regardless of the result, they know they’ll be playing Europa League football next season.
[01] Dortmund up for it from the start. Düsseldorf concede possession and it’s quickly played forwards to Mario Götze whose cross to Robert Lewandowski at the near post needs a defender to clear it away.
[04] Marcel Risse finds an unmarked Andreas Lambertz on the edge of the penalty arc, but the Düsseldorf captain spoons his shot over the bar as he’s closed down.
[05] Dani Schahin whips a cross into the Dortmund box, but no one can get on the end of it as Neven Subotic and Lambertz collide.
[06] Lovely ball through from Dennis Praet is collected by Robert Lewandowski who draws a good save from Robert Almer. Götze gets the ball back into the box but he can’t find Schieber and it’s cleared.
[10] Dortmund have been getting the ball in from out wide but Schieber is yet to connect or test Almer.
[14] Julian Schieber bends one well wide from outside the box.
[15] GOAL FOR DUSSELDORF! Johannes van den Bergh plays the ball up the left wing for Axel Bellinghausen who gets past Andreas Beck. He sends a cross right into the six-yard box where Nando Rafael gets on the end and heads Düsseldorf in front.
[20] A Dortmund attack breaks down and Düsseldorf counter quickly. Felipe Santana brings down Nando Rafael half a yard outside the box. Lucky to escape a booking, luckier still to escape a penalty.
[20] The set piece is played short with Rafael picking the ball up and finding Andreas Lambertz ten yards out. Clear cut chance, saved well by Roman Weidenfeller. Should have scored.
[22] Lambertz bends another free-kick around the wall towards the top corner from 25 yards out, but Weidenfeller gets across to palm it away.
[25] First corner goes to Düsseldorf after they attack down the right, and Marcel Schmelzer puts the ball behind. Dortmund clear it away and break, but Ivan Perisic takes too heavy a touch at the other end.
[28] Ping-pong in the Dortmund area after a good run from Lambertz. The loose ball is eventually smashed a yard wide by Schahin.
[31] Roman Weidenfeller saves at point-blank range twice in five seconds from Nando Rafael who has his head in his hands after his failures to convert. Risse got away down the right and sent a low cross right across the face of goal.
[33] Sven Bender and Robert Lewandowski both have shots from just inside the box. Bender well wide, Lewandowski charged down.
[34] Ivan Perisic knocks the ball into the box for Julian Schieber but he’s agonisingly wide at the near post.
[36] Great run from Schieber drags defenders out of position before sliping the ball through to Lewandowski who’s unmarked on the edge of the box. His first-time shot skids inches wide.
[39] Perisic fouls Almer and another Dortmund attack comes to nothing. Surman remaining calm in the dugout.
[41] Dortmund have their first corner when Malezas has to put the ball behind as Schieber looks to get on the end of Perisic’s cross from the left.
[41] Neven Subotic heads the corner a foot wide at the near post, but he’s penalised for a push on Malezas in the build-up anyway.
[42] Alex Bellinghausen clatters through Andreas Beck but there’s no foul given. Dortmund are furious at Wolfgang Stark and lose focus. Bellinghausen goes for a lob from the left, 25 yards out, which beats Weidenfeller but comes back off the far post and bounces away from Risse who would have had a tap in.
[43] Sven Bender has a pop from 25 yards when Düsseldorf slice a clearance and the ball drops nicely for him, but it bounces safely wide.
[44] One additional minute.
[45+1] Ivan Perisic hits a free-kick into the box but no one can connect and it bounces wide for a goal kick.
HALF-TIME: Borussia Dortmund 0-1 Fortuna Düsseldorf (DFB-Pokal Final)
[HT] Düsseldorf have made a change at the break as Axel Bellinghausen (7.3) took a knock right at the end of the half. He’s replaced by Ken Ilsø Larsen.
[46] Massive forty-five minutes for Dortmund. They kick off.
[46] EQUALISER FOR DORTMUND! Just twenty-seven seconds from the kick-off and BVB are back on level terms. Mario Götze and Dennis Praet bring the ball forwards, with the latter trying to find Schieber on the edge of the box. Malezas gets a foot in, but the ball squirms loose. Praet takes a touch, goes clean through and slots home.
[49] Dortmund have burst out the blocks and that goal has lifted them. Lewandowski and Perisic have both gone close since the equaliser.
[50] Julian Schieber is inches away from getting on the end of a Mario Götze cross which goes right to the far post without anyone dealing with it.
[52] Lambertz smashes a free-kick towards goal from 25 yards but it’s a whisker over the top. Schmelzer gave the foul away.
[53] Lewandowski has his shot saved from ten yards by Almer, Perisic can’t convert from a tight angle and Götze is less than a foot wide, all inside ten seconds.
[58] Mario Götze smashes a low shot from the edge of the box after Ivan Perisic cuts inside and squares, but Almer gets his body behind it. Great save.
[59] Lewandowski has another shot charged down on the edge of the box. Praet hits the rebound and Almer tips it wide.
[59] The corner is played to Lewandowski who drills it into the six-yard box. Schieber prods it towards goal but it’s stopped on the line and hammered away. Düsseldorf need to weather this storm, and hope to counter.
[61] Dennis Praet loops a shot just over the bar after Schieber squares.
[64] Andreas Beck is the first player in the book after he trips Lambertz.
[66] Dennis Praet hits the bar from the edge of the penalty arc after he skins his marker, beats the ‘keeper, but can’t beat the frame of the goal.
[67] Second change for Düsseldorf²: Robbie Kruse replaces Dani Schahin (7.0).
[69] Change for Dortmund¹: Ilkay Gündogan is on for Sven Bender (6.8).
[73] Düsseldorf make their first real attack of the second half, but Kruse can’t get on the end of a fine cross from Lambertz. Neven Subotic heads it away.
[78] Ilsø hammers the ball behind for a Dortmund corner as Götze whips a cross in from the right. Lewandowski was close moments before. Lambertz is getting treatment so Düsseldorf will defend this with ten men.
[79] Felipe Santana is a shade over the top with his near post header.
[81] Into the final ten minutes. Some tired legs out there for Dortmund. Surman holding off on further changes for now though.
[85] Great run from Marcel Risse as he cuts inside from the right, evades a couple of challenges and picks out Robie Kruse ten yards from goal. Great save from Weidenfeller to deny his strike at goal.
[86] Wolfgang Stark looked to have penalise Dennis Praet 25 yards from the Düsseldorf goal as he catches Nando Rafael in the air, but he’s given the free-kick in the Belgian’s favour! Great opportunity this, dead central.
[86] 2-1 DORTMUND! That’s going to be a massive talking point! Ivan Perisic bends the free-kick round the wall and a poorly-placed Robert Almer can’t get across to stop it finding the back of the net.
[89] Malezas gives away a free-kick with a foul on Praet, 25 yards from goal but further to the left that the previous one. No doubt it was a foul either. Perisic goes round the wall but Almer, this time, is there to gather.
[89] Dortmund made a second change between the foul being given and the free-kick being taken²: Moritz Leitner replaced Dennis Praet (8.6) who should rightly win the man-of-the-match award.
[90] Kruse looks to loft a long ball over the top of Dortmund’s back four as Lambertz and Rafael both charge forwards, but Felipe Santana heads back to Weidenfeller.
[90] Poor kick from Weidenfeller gives it straight back to Rafael, thirty yards out, two against two. His ball towards Ilso is poor and easily cut out.
[90] Three additional minutes.
[90] Final change for Dortmund³: Kevin Großkreutz replaces Perisic (7.7). Both goalscorers for BVB off the field, both left to thunderous applause.
[90+1] Andreas Beck, on a yellow, has made some fantastic sliding challenges lately to stop Düsseldorf from breaking on a counter. Possibly the best buy for BVB this season.
[90+3] Almer makes a absolute howler of a kick, which slices straight up into the air. Schieber wins the header under lots of pressure and finds Lewandowski in the box, but Düsseldorf clear,
[90+3] Mario Götze is left on the deck after an aerial collision, and is staying down. We’re playing on here with thirty seconds remaining, Dortmund in possession and 2-1 up.
[90+5] Götze got treatment and we’re still going here. He wins Dortmund’s fourth corner of the match when he gets on the end of a Leitner cross, before a challenge from Van den Bergh.
[90+5] Third change for Düsseldorf ahead of the corner³: Bruno Soares replaces Tonel (6.9).
FULL-TIME: Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Fortuna Düsseldorf (DFB-Pokal Final).
A stunning double for Dortmund during Gray Surman’s first season in charge at the club, and many managers will be wondering exactly what he said to the BVB boys at half-time. Flat first-half despite starting well, but absolutely dominant for the second forty-five. Axel Bellinghausen will be ruing his chip for Düsseldorf that hit the post before he was replaced.
The injured Mats Hummels lifted the trophy with vice-captain Roman Weidenfeller, as the city of Dortmund celebrates tonight. Hummels is expected to return next weekend, along with Marco Reus and Viktor Fischer. Dennis Praet was superb tonight, him and Andreas Beck look like two very shrewd purchases by Surman.
One game to go for BVB now, and it’s the biggest in the club’s history. Barcelona, in Turin, for the Champions League title next Saturday. Mario Götze will be fit, only suffering a dead leg in stoppage time.
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