Doan Solo Fires Frankfurt past Augsburg

AFP-Jiji

10:57 JST, December 14, 2025

BERLIN (AFP-Jiji) — A brilliant solo goal from Ritsu Doan took Eintracht Frankfurt to a hard-fought 1-0 home win over Augsburg in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

The victory lifted Frankfurt, who have struggled to manage domestic and European commitments this season after a third-placed finish last campaign, to fifth spot.

Augsburg had two goals chalked off by VAR early against a shaky Frankfurt defence who had conceded 15 goals in their past five games.

Midway through the second-half, Japan international Doan weaved through the attention of four Augsburg defenders before hitting a deflected shot past Finn Dahmen.

Augsburg’s American defender Noahkai Banks looked to have levelled things up in the 87th minute but his goal was struck off for a narrow offside.

Elsewhere, Hoffenheim climbed into the top four, two points above Frankfurt, thanks to a commanding 4-1 home win over Hamburg, their sixth victory in their past eight league games.

Goals from Grischa Proemel, Ozan Kabak, Tim Lemperle and Fisnik Asllani took Hoffenheim to victory, while Hamburg’s Rayan Philippe scored a late consolation but missed a stoppage time penalty.

Frankfurt and Hoffenheim’s wins sent Bayer Leverkusen down to sixth but the 2023-24 league winners can reclaim fourth spot with a victory when they host derby rivals Cologne later on Saturday.

Christian Eriksen sparked Wolfsburg to a 3-1 win away at Borussia Moenchengladbach to continue the Wolves’ recent resurgence.

The former Manchester United and Tottenham midfielder guided in an expert cross which led to a Mohammed Amoura goal and created Wimmer’s second with a no-look pass inside four minutes midway through the first half.

Dangling near the relegation spots for much of the season, Wolfsburg have claimed seven points in their last three matches to climb to 13th.

St. Pauli won their first match since September with a 2-1 home victory over Heidenheim, despite going down to 10 men just before halftime.