Eintracht Frankfurt rewarded themselves with a win at the last minute for their strong performance against 1. FC Union Berlin.
In the duel between the two European Cup participants, the Hessians came on Sunday thanks to the late goal by Evan Ndicka (90 + 5 minutes) to a deserved 2: 1 (1: 0) and thus managed to catch up with the upper middle of the table in the Bundesliga.
With 18 points, the unbeaten team from Frankfurt, who have been unbeaten in six competitive games, are now twelfth, Union remains in sixth place with 20 points.
In front of 24,000 spectators, Djibril Sow gave the hosts the lead in the 22nd minute, which Max Kruse (62nd) equalized with a converted penalty kick.
Eintracht, playing for the third time in a row with the same starting eleven, set the tone right from the start and briefly celebrated an early lead.
Rafael Borré (7th) was just offside, so the Colombian's goal rightly received no recognition.
As a result, the Hessians appeared much fresher and more agile than the guests who flew directly from Israel to Frankfurt after their Conference League game in Haifa on Friday.
After the home side initially lacked the necessary precision near the penalty area, Sow delivered precision work on the well-deserved opening goal.
After Filip Kostic's cross was too short, the Swiss hammered the ball under the crossbar from 17 meters.
Union goalkeeper Andreas Luthe was powerless.
Even afterwards, the fans saw one-way football - in the direction of the Union gate.
Daichi Kamada (25th) hit the crossbar with a header, Kristijan Jakic (29th) also missed the goal with a head.
The Berliners hardly got out of their own half in this phase.
The narrow deficit at halftime was extremely flattering for the iron, because the like playing Eintracht continued to miss top-class chances.
Kostic only hit the side netting from an acute angle, Borré put the ball over the goal from close range.
After the change, Union was able to free itself from the previously overpowering pressure from the Hessians and initiate its first attacks.
However, these were mostly harmless.
Nevertheless, the guests came out of nowhere to equalize.
Ndicka hit Taiwo Awoniyi on the foot in the penalty area, and Kruse safely converted the penalty.
In the run-up to the action, the ball seemed to have been in touch, but the video evidence did not provide one hundred percent clarity.
So referee Sascha Stegemann stuck to his decision.
The goal paralyzed Eintracht somewhat.
The game was now more evenly balanced, but clear chances remained rare on both sides - until the appearance of Ndicka, who rewarded the Frankfurters with his goal late.
The rest was ecstasy at unity.