Goalkeeper Rönnow the hero for Union Berlin as it claims unlikely 2-1 win at Eintracht Frankfurt

By Canadian Press on March 9, 2025.

BERLIN (AP) — Frederik Rönnow saved a last-minute penalty for Union Berlin to beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 to climb 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 away from home to end their three-game losing run.

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.

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 Christopher Trimmel’s header for his first goal for Union.

South Korean forward Jeong Woo-yeong scored what proved to be the winner in the 78th.

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.

Hoffenheim was hosting last-place Heidenheim to complete the 25th round later.

League leader Bayern Munich and defending champion Bayer Leverkusen both lost their matches Saturday before they meet again 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.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Ciarán Fahey, The Associated Press