05.02.2017 20:10 h

Hasebe nets as Frankfurt climb to third

Japan's Makoto Hasebe converted a late penalty in Eintracht Frankfurt's 2-0 win over bottom side Darmstadt which saw them climb above Borussia Dortmund into third in the Bundesliga on Sunday.

Frankfurt, who reached the European Cup final in 1960, are on course to make their Champions League debut next season after the home win lifted them from seventh in Germany's top flight.

Nico Kovac-coached Eintracht finally unpicked Darmstadt's stubborn defence when defensive midfielder Hasebe, 33, knocked in a 74th-minute spot kick after Frankfurt defender Jesus Vallejo was fouled in the area.

They doubled their lead when burly captain Alexander Meier rounded the Darmstadt goalkeeper and passed back for Croatia striker Ante Rebic to tap home on 83 minutes.

The result left Eintracht a point ahead of fourth-placed Dortmund.

"We knew it would be difficult and that Darmstadt would defend deep, it wasn't easy," said Kovac.

The Eintracht boss said it was too soon to talk about a Champions League place.

"We'll stay focused on our target of 40 points (for the season)," he added with his team already on 35.

Earlier, burly striker Raul Bobadilla broke Werder Bremen's hearts with a 94th-minute winner to seal Augsburg's 3-2 comeback win and lift the Bavarians three places up the table to tenth.

The powerfully-built Paraguay international chested down a long ball from midfielder Koo Ja-Cheol and slammed his shot into the Bremen goal as Augsburg fought back with two goals in the final fifteen minutes.

Relegation-threatened Bremen had been heading for a valuable 2-1 win after Germany striker Max Kruse had converted a second-half penalty for Werder.

But South Korea's Koo put Augsburg level for the second time when the attacking midfielder fired home Paul Verhaegh's pass from close range to make it 2-2 with 11 minutes to go before Bobadilla struck.

The first-half had finished 1-1 after Augsburg midfielder Jonathan Schmid scored to cancel out Theodor Gebre Selassie's early goal for Bremen.

The result in Bavaria leaves Bremen 15th, only out of the bottom three on goal difference.

It was another tough result for battling Bremen, who went down fighting in last Saturday's 2-1 home defeat to leaders Bayern Munich having lost by the same scoreline to Dortmund the week before.

Carlo Ancelotti's Bayern finish the weekend four points clear at the top of the league despite a disappointing display in Saturday's 1-1 draw at home to mid-table Schalke.

Robert Lewandowski's early goal for Bayern at Munich's Allianz Arena was cancelled out by a free-kick from Schalke's Brazil defender Naldo.

Bayern's cause was later helped when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted his 17th Bundesliga goal of the season in Borussia Dortmund's 1-0 win over second-placed RB Leipzig, who had been hit by flu.

Aubameyang remains two goals ahead of Bayern hot-shot Robert Lewandowski in the race to be the German league's top scorer thanks to his superb first-half winner.

The Gabon striker headed home after teenage French winger Ousmane Dembele ghosted past two RB defenders down the right wing and crossed for Aubameyang to head home unmarked on 35 minutes.

Leipzig struggled without top-scorer Timo Werner, midfielder Diego Demme and striker Marcel Sabitzer, who all have flu, while playmaker Emil Forsberg was suspended.