Substitute Beier strikes late as Dortmund beat Frankfurt 1-0 to go top
Maximilian Beier came off the bench to score in the 80th minute of Saturday night's marquee match. Dortmund lead on 17 points, with Bayern able to respond at Freiburg on Sunday.
Archive image · Photo: Dirk Vorderstraße / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped and resized)
Borussia Dortmund moved to the top of the Bundesliga, for now, after beating Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 on Saturday night at Signal Iduna Park. Substitute Maximilian Beier scored the winner in the 80th minute with a curling shot.
Dortmund had been frustrated for long spells: Serhou Guirassy was denied early by Frankfurt goalkeeper Noah Atubolu and headed against the crossbar after the break, while a deflected shot from Daniel Svensson also hit the woodwork. Younes Ebnoutalib missed a chance to put Frankfurt ahead. Coach Niko Kovač sent on Beier, Carney Chukwuemeka and Ethan Nwaneri in the 68th minute, and the changes paid off.
"We were the better team, without the big fireworks, but you can't expect that in this phase," Dortmund sporting director Ole Book told Sky. Frankfurt captain Robin Koch said: "Of course that's bitter. We tried everything." Dortmund have 17 points; Bayern Munich, on 14, play at Freiburg on Sunday (1630 GMT) and can reclaim first place.