BERLIN — André Silva scored late for Eintracht Frankfurt to win 2-1 at Borussia Dortmund and consolidate its Champions League qualification place at the home side’s expense on Saturday.
Frankfurt stayed fourth in the Bundesliga’s last qualification spot for Europe’s top club competition and opened a seven-point gap over Dortmund with seven games of the season remaining.
Luka Jovic forced his way through on a counterattack before he was finally stopped by Dortmund defender Mats Hummels. But the rebound fell kindly for Filip Kostic to cross for Silva to head Frankfurt’s winner in the 87th minute. It was the Portugal striker’s 22nd goal of the season.
Dortmund had got off to a bad start when Nico Schulz headed Kostic’s deflected cross into his own net in the 11th minute. The Dortmund defender was trying to prevent the ball from reaching the lurking Silva.
Star striker Erling Haaland went close in response and was then denied by Frankfurt ’keeper Kevin Trapp.
The equalizer came from an unlikely source right before the break when Hummels scored from close range after Emre Can chested down a corner.
Frankfurt defender Stefan Ilsanker thought he had scored in the 65th, but the goal was ruled out through VAR for offside.
Klaas Jan Huntelaar made his first start for Schalke at Bayer Leverkusen since he returned for his second stint, but the veteran Dutch striker was unable to inspire the league’s worst team to any improvement despite scoring in a 2-1 loss
Kerem Demirbay crossed for Lucas Alario to open the scoring in the 26th, and Patrick Schick scored in the 72nd to ensure new Leverkusen coach Hannes Wolf got off to a winning start. Wolf replaced the fired Peter Bosz during the international break.
Huntelaar’s 81st-minute consolation will do little to prevent Schalke’s relegation. The Gelsenkirchen-based club remains last, 14 points from safety after collecting just 10 points all season.
Also, third-place Wolfsburg beat Cologne 1-0, Arminia Bielefeld fought back to draw 1-1 at relegation rival Mainz, and Augsburg enjoyed a 2-1 win over Hoffenheim.
Bayern Munich visited Leipzig later Saturday for a clash between the top two teams. A win for Bayern would give it a seven-point cushion, while Leipzig can close the gap to a point.
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Ciarán Fahey on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cfaheyAP
