Ritsu Dōan earns Eintracht Frankfurt narrow victory over Augsburg
Eintracht Frankfurt edge past Augsburg 1-0 at Deutsche Bank Park thanks to Ritsu Dōan's deflected strike, with VAR twice denying the visitors an equaliser.
Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 AugsburgGoals: 1-0 Dōan 68’ (assist: Hojlund)
After their chastening 6-0 defeat to RB Leipzig on Matchday 13 and a narrow loss to Barcelona in the Champions League midweek, Frankfurt were desperate to return to winning ways against an Augsburg side buoyed by their surprise 2-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen last time out. With that win in mind, Manuel Baum named an unchanged team. Dino Toppmöller made two changes to his Frankfurt side, with Nnamdi Collins and Mahmoud Dahoud replacing Nathaniel Brown and the injured Hugo Larsson.
Early drama
Augsburg made a flying start and thought they had taken the lead after just three minutes. An initial corner was recycled to the left, where Kristijan Jakić chipped the ball back into the middle for Chrislain Matsima to head home. The celebrations were short-lived, however, as the goal was disallowed for offside in the build-up.
Frankfurt gradually worked their way into the match, with Ansgar Knauff forcing a save from Finn Dahmen in the 10th minute after a Han-Noah Massengo tackle inadvertently sent him through on goal.
The home side's best opportunity of the first half came in the 21st minute when a flurry of attempts saw Knauff and Rasmus Kristensen both denied before Arthur Theate volleyed over from a promising position.
As the half went on, however, chances became harder to come by as both teams went into the break level.
Dōan magic breaks the deadlock
Toppmöller made two changes at half-time, bringing on Can Uzun for Mario Götze and Nathaniel Brown for Farès Chaïbi. The hosts started brightly with Kristensen heading wide from a Dōan free-kick, but it was Augsburg who created the best chance in the 53rd minute when Robin Fellhauer brilliantly took the ball in his stride and got into the box, only to narrowly miss the target with his effort.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 68th minute when Ritsu Dōan received the ball from Oscar Höjlund and weaved his way into the box with some superb dribbling. His left-footed shot took a crucial deflection off Matsima, wrong-footing Dahmen as the ball nestled in the far corner.
The Japanese international nearly doubled his tally moments later, pinching the ball off Matsima before shooting into the side-netting from a tight angle.
Augsburg denied again
Augsburg refused to give up and pushed forward in search of an equaliser. Keven Schlotterbeck headed wide from a Dimitrios Giannoulis cross, while substitute Samuel Essende also failed to hit the target with a header. The visitors thought they had levelled in the 87th minute when Noahkai Banks poked home following a flick-on from a corner by Marius Wolf, but after a lengthy VAR review, the goal was disallowed with Banks judged to be narrowly offside. Seven minutes of added time saw Augsburg continue to press, with Schlotterbeck and Essende both missing the target with late efforts, but Frankfurt held firm to secure all three points.
Dōan wins Man of the Match
Due to technical issues, the Man of the Match vote could not be carried out as usual. The editorial choice was goalscorer Ritsu Dōan.
Bundesliga Match Facts
xGoals: Frankfurt 1.22 - Augsburg 0.93
Fastest player: Chrislain Matsima (Augsburg), 35.27 km/h
Lowest goal probability: 1-0 by Ritsu Dōan (Frankfurt), 17 per cent
Most pressed player: Alexis Claude-Maurice (Augsburg), 22 times under pressure
Pass efficiency: Michael Zetterer (Frankfurt), +2.38
Fantasy Heroes: Ritsu Dōan (Eintracht Frankfurt, 320 Points), Rasmus Kristensen (Eintracht Frankfurt, 214 Points), Noahkai Banks (Augsburg, 232 Points)
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