Goalkeeper Rönnow the hero for Union Berlin as it claims unlikely 2-1 win at Eintracht Frankfurt
Goalkeeper Rönnow the hero for Union Berlin as it claims unlikely 2-1 win at Eintracht Frankfurt
BERLIN (AP) — Frederik Rönnow saved a last-minute penalty for Union Berlin to beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 and stay away from the Bundesliga’s relegation zone on Sunday.
Hugo Ekitiké had the chance to equalize from the spot in the fifth minute of stoppage time after Union defender Diogo Leite was penalized for hand ball through a VAR check. However, his shot was too central and Rönnow preserved Union’s win.
It ended Union’s three-game losing run and kept it six points above the relegation zone with nine rounds remaining.
“The hard part is producing these performances consistently,” Union captain Christopher Trimmel said. “So I’m happy but don’t want to get carried away. It was a good step, but there’s still some way to go.”
Michy Batshuayi scored with Frankfurt’s first opportunity in the 13th minute after Rasmus Kristensen’s initial shot was blocked by a defender. It fell kindly for Batshuayi to shoot inside the left post for his first goal for Frankfurt since his winter switch from Galatasaray.
After a lackluster first half, Union coach Steffen Baumgart sent on Benedict Hollerbach and Andras Schäfer to boost his team’s attacking threat in the 55th.
Counterpart Dino Toppmöller followed suit by sending on Mario Götze and Ekitiké in the 60th, but the visitors equalized two minutes later when Leopold Querfeld headed in from Trimmel’s corner for his first goal for Union.
South Korean forward Jeong Woo-yeong scored what proved to be the winner in the 78th – seven minutes after going on as a substitute.
Hollerbach thought he’d scored the third in the 87th, but that goal was ruled out after a VAR check for a hand-ball by Schäfer. It wasn’t the end of the VAR drama.
Frankfurt dropped to fourth after its third successive Bundesliga defeat. Toppmöller’s team previously lost 4-1 to Bayer Leverkusen and 4-0 to Bayern Munich.
Last-place Heidenheim came from a goal down to draw at Hoffenheim 1-1 in Sunday’s late match.
On Saturday, league leader Bayern and defending champion Leverkusen both lost their games ahead of their rematch in the Champions League on Tuesday. Leverkusen, which needs to overturn a three-goal deficit in the second leg of their last 16 tie, said Sunday it will give an injury update on Florian Wirtz on Monday after the 21-year-old Germany star injured his right foot during the loss to Werder Bremen.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
By CIARÁN FAHEY
AP Sports Writer
