Hoffenheim stun Frankfurt late to share spoils in Bundesliga
Baku, January 27, AZERTAC
Hugo Ekitike's brace was not enough as third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt failed to close the gap on second-placed Bayer Leverkusen after Hoffenheim snatched a late 2-2 draw thanks to Adam Hlozek's stoppage-time equalizer at the closer of the 19th round on Sunday, according to Xinhua.
The Eagles took control from the kick-off, but it was the hosts who created the first clear chance of the game when Adam Hlozek hit the woodwork with a left-footed shot from 14 meters in the sixth minute.
Hoffenheim defended deep and looked for counterattacks, while Frankfurt couldn't make much of their possession.
In the 24th minute, the VAR stepped in and awarded Frankfurt a penalty for foul play when Kevin Akpoguma accidentally tripped Ekitike in the box. The Frenchman stepped up and sent goalkeeper Luca Philipp the wrong way to break the deadlock.
With the break approaching, Hoffenheim began to pile on the pressure and created several chances before half-time, and this continued after the break, with Tom Bischof and Andrej Kramaric among those to go close.
The hosts thought they had levelled on the hour mark, but Hlozek's equalizer was ruled out for offside.
Hoffenheim's efforts finally paid off five minutes later when Gift Orban latched onto Hlozek's cutback into the box. It was TSG's 17th shot on target.
Frankfurt responded with two chances through Ekitike before Kramaric missed a chance to turn the game on its head in the 70th minute, hitting the right post from close range.
The visitors shocked Hoffenheim with their next attack, Ekitike finishing off Rasmus Kristensen's through ball to make it 2-1.
Hoffenheim refused to go down without a fight and launched an attack on the Frankfurt goal in the dying minutes of the match.
The final touch was lacking at first, but it came in the fifth minute of stoppage time when Kramaric's whipped ball into the box found Hlozek, who curled the ball past Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp and into the near post from a tight angle.
Frankfurt's share of the spoils moved them five points clear of second-placed Leverkusen, while Hoffenheim picked up a vital point to keep them above the relegation zone.
"We didn't play well today. Hoffenheim fully deserved their point. Of course, we would have liked to win, but our performance simply wasn't good enough," said Frankfurt coach Dino Toppmoller.
Elsewhere, newly promoted St. Pauli recorded their second win on the bounce as Morgan Guilavogui scored twice to beat Union Berlin 3-0.
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