Frankfurt hold Bayern, Cologne win in German Bundesliga
Xinhua, October 16, 2016 Adjust font size:
Ten-men Frankfurt craved out a 2-2 draw against front-runners Bayern Munich and Cologne moved on the second place after beating Ingolstadt 2-1 in the 7th round matches of the German Bundesliga on Saturday.
The German giants were unable to defend their advantage twice as Frankfurt's Szabolcs Huszti and Marco Fabian secured outnumbered "Eagles" one point on home soil.
Carlo Ancelotti's men caught a fairy tale start into the clash as Arjen Robben made use of David Alaba's cross into the box to break the deadlock from sharp angle with only 10 minutes into the game.
Frankfurt remained unimpressed and increased their efforts to level the scores before the break as Huszti restored parity following a through ball from Bastian Oczipka in the 43rd minute.
After the restart, Bayern piled on the pressure and controlled the proceedings on the pitch. Hence, Joshua Kimmich ensured Bayern's 2-1 lead after poking home Mats Hummels' deflected shot on target in the 62nd minute. Things went from bad to worse for the visitors as Huszti was sent off after booking his second yellow card in the 65th minute.
However, Bayern failed to benefit on their superior numbers, as a result Frankfurt punished the front-runners as Fabian tapped in Timothy Chandler's square pass in the dying seconds of the game.
With the result, Bayern reap their second draw in row to remain atop the standings with a two-point advantage whereas Frankfurt climbed on the 7th place.
Cologne are in hot pursuit of Bayern Munich as the "Billy Goats" edged Ingolstadt 2-1 to move on the second place of the Bundesliga table.
The hosts needed 28 minutes before top striker Anthony Modeste overcame Ingolstadt's defence by courtesy of a pass into path from Yuya Osako.
The "Schanzer" were unable to stop Cologne as Tobias Levels brought down Osako inside the box to cause a foul play penalty in the 38th minute. Modeste stepped up and doubled the lead from the spot to mark his seventh goal of the season.
Ingolstadt did not pose any threat to Cologne defence. They were yet able to reduce the arrears through a foul play penalty that was converted by Lukas Hinterseer in the closing period.
With the fourth win of the season, unbeaten Cologne moved on the second place of the standings while Ingolstadt suffered their sixth consecutive loss to slump to the Bundesliga bottom.
Elsewhere, Monchengladbach and Hamburg shared the spoil following a goalless draw. Monchengladbach did not grab a win over Hamburg despite a straight red card for Cleber Reis and two awarded penalties.
Augsburg and Schalke played out a 1-1 stalemate after Daniel Baier's goal cancelled out Nabil Bentaleb's opener for Schalke.
Hoffenheim edged newly promoted Freiburg 2-1 thanks to the goals from Sandro Wagner and Andrej Kramaric, and Leverkusen's two-game winning streak came to an end as Werder Bremen snatched a 2-1 win on home soil.
The following fixtures complete the 7th round on Sunday: Mainz hosts Darmstadt and Wolfsburg encounter newcomers Leipzig. Endit