Hope for Frankfurt after derby comeback in Darmstadt
Eintracht Frankfurt boosted their hopes of escaping relegation with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory away to regional neighbours and fellow strugglers SV Darmstadt 98.
SV Darmstadt 98 1-2 Eintracht Frankfurt
Goals: 1-0 Vrancic (12'), 1-1 Hasebe (56'), 1-2 Aigner (83')
There was a predictably frenetic opening at the Merck-Stadion am Böllenfalltor given that this was a local derby with both teams fighting against relegation, and thundering tackles characterised the opening exchanges. Darmstadt drew first blood, however, when Mario Vrancic slotted in from Marcel Heller's excellent cut-back. The hosts had the better chances to add to the scoreline in the first half, and Sandro Wagner even had a penalty saved by Lukas Hradecky after Luca Caldirola had been fouled inside the box.
Frankfurt needed to be braver in the second period and they were. Niko Kovac's men finally began troubling the home defence with some increasingly incisive moves and the two goals they had ruled out for offside were indicative of that improvement. The Eagles got the equaliser their efforts deserved when Makoto Hasebe's fierce drive from 25 yards was deflected in. There was more to come in the closing stages when Stefan Aigner prodded in Szabolcs Huszti's right-wing free-kick at the back post to hand Frankfurt a dramatic victory and three crucial points.
Want more Bundesliga Action?