The dinner from the cardboard bowl had to wait a little longer.

While the teammates from Borussia Dortmund were already making themselves comfortable in the bus before returning home from Frankfurt, Gregor Kobel talked about another special match day.

Without the discussion about the video assistant and the penalty that was not awarded to Eintracht, the BVB goalkeeper would have been even more in focus in retrospect.

The fact that Dortmund went home after the 2-1 win with three points was partly due to the wrong decision of the referees, but also to a large extent to the famous Kobel.

Tobias Rabe

Responsible editor for Sport Online.

  • Follow I follow

Goals from Julian Brandt (20th minute) and Jude Bellingham (52nd) and a goal from Daichi Kamada (26th) made it 2-1 for Borussia when the Swiss keeper showed excellent form.

After half-time, he saved twice against Jesper Lindström (54th and 58th) and Randal Kolo Muani (57th and 62nd) with strong saves.

"We can rely on Gregor 100 percent," said coach Edin Terzić.

The goalkeeper also impressed Frankfurt captain Sebastian Rode: "We lost because we didn't put the ball in and Dortmund had Gregor Kobel."

He passed the praise on to the people in front of him.

"They're doing a great job," he said.

"They often bothered me so much before that I can look good then." That was true, because the back four with Niklas Süle, Mats Hummels, Nico Schlotterbeck and Thorgan Hazard steadfastly defended themselves against the nimble Frankfurters.

Hummels showed anticipation when he prevented Eintracht chances at the last moment, Schlotterbeck was spot on when he saved former Dortmund player Mario Götze's follow-up shot from the first Kolo-Muani chance on the line.

But the defenses of the people in front of Kobel were at best half the truth when it came to full success.

The goalkeeper was the outstanding man.

“It went very well for me”

The native of Zurich, who was trained at the Grasshopper Club in his home town, came to Dortmund via Hoffenheim, Augsburg and Stuttgart in the summer of 2021 and replaced compatriot Roman Bürki as number one at BVB.

A little later, Kobel made his debut in the national team and can now hope for a nomination for the World Cup in Qatar.

Performances like that on Saturday night are excellent applications.

"The last few games have gone very well for me," said Kobel, who has experienced different times this season as well.

In early September, the 24-year-old tore a hamstring and missed four games.

When he seemed fit again, back problems bothered him and he missed three more games.

It was only in the Champions League second leg against Sevilla almost three weeks ago that Kobel was back in the Dortmund goal.

Five days later, he experienced his personal low when he lost his footing and then the ball after a back pass.

Union Berlin used the faux pas for a simple hit.

"If I slip as a goalkeeper, then it's a goal," said Kobel.