Borussia Dortmund beat Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 in the Bundesliga on Saturday, as Maximilian Beier came off the bench to make the difference.
It was turning out to be another frustrating evening for the BVB, who had created a handful of chances until then but weren't able to displatch it.
Fabio Silva was sent through on goal by Serhou Guirassy but the Portuguese fired high and wide, while the Guinea himself had two shots saved in a space of two minutes by Frankfurt goalkeeper Noah Atubolu.
Daniel Svensson rattled the crossbar from a corner while Guirassy's header in the second half also came off the post. But as we've seen under Kovac, subs came in to make a difference with Jobe Bellingham teeing up Beier from the left for the forward to unleash a fearsome strike into the far corner.
Here are the player ratings for Borussia Dortmund
Gregor Kobel - 7.5: Made two big saves in the match to deny Frankfurt; a deserved clean sheet.
Waldemar Anton - 7: The Eagles unsettled him with surprising potency but couldn't force the BVB star into any errors.
Nico Schlotterbeck - 7.5: Competed fiercely for possession and played an important role in keeping the ball in circulation, but lacked speed in tracking back as Frankfurt dribbled past him thrice.
Ramy Bensebaini - 7.5: Fans were skeptical of him after his sloppy display last time out but the Algerian turned in a sound display with 14 defensive contributions.
Julian Ryerson - 7: Got forward well to lay 10 crosses although many of them were intercepted or wayward; came second-best in his duels too.
Joey Veerman - 8: The engine driving BVB's attacking vanguard; laid four key passes and 11 crosses.
Felix Nmecha - 7: Saw a few openings to shoot but two of those attempts were blocked and one was saved near the pole.
Daniel Svensson - 7: Crossed in relentlessly from the left and struck the crossbar in the first half too.
Marcel Sabitzer - 5: Had more possession losses (15) than passes completed (6); didn't create anything meaningful going forward.
Fabio Silva - 6.5: Blazed a shot over the bar and created one big chance in the game, but not at the level he's been playing this season.
Serhou Guirassy - 6: A frustrating evening for the Guinean star, who was denied by the crossbar once too; set up a good chance for Silva inside the opening 10 minutes though.
Substitutes
Ethan Nwaneri - 6.5
Carney Chukwuemeka - 7
Maximilian Beier - 7.5
Jobe Bellingham - 7
Joane Gadou - N/A
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