BERLIN (AP) – Ritsu Doan scored for Eintracht Frankfurt in a 1-0 Bundesliga victory over Augsburg on Saturday, ending a four-game winless streak in all competitions.
The Japanese forward got the ball past two Augsburg defenders and fired a shot before being squeezed in by two more defenders. In the 68th minute, a deflection from a retreating defender sent the ball past Finn Damen in the Augsburg goal, sparking a relief-inspired celebration around the stadium.
Noakai Banks briefly spoiled the mood with a late equalizer, but the goal was ruled out for offside after a VAR check. This was the second goal of the match for the visiting team to be ruled out for offside.
The victory moved Frankfurt into fifth place, with Bayer Leverkusen then facing Cologne in a derby.
Frankfurt narrowly lost to Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday, but lost 6-0 at home to Leipzig in their last match.
Also on Saturday, St. Pauli overcame a tough red card to beat relegation rivals Heidenheim 2-1, ending a 10-game winless run.
Pauli was penalized by referee Søren Stokes for a foul on final defender Marvin Pierringer before half-time, which led to Eric Smith being sent off, but television replays showed the Heidenheim forward made the most of the light contact and threw himself to the ground. There was no VAR intervention.
Martin Karls had already put Pauli ahead and surprised the visitors by scoring his second goal early in the second half.
Peeringer then pulled one back, but Pauli scored his third league win of the season.
Wolfsburg’s resurgence continued under interim manager Daniel Bauer with a 3-1 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach. This extended the team’s undefeated record to three games.
Hoffenheim defeated promoted group Hamburger SV 4-1, making it their fourth consecutive home win.
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