Dortmund, Dec 14 (IANS): Runners-up Borussia Dortmund came from behind to beat 10-man Frankfurt 4-1 while FC Augsburg overcame FC Schalke 04 2-1 thanks to Caiuby's late goal, to conclude the 16th round of the Bundesliga.
Dortmund cemented their second place in the table after turning the tides against the struggling Augsburg, to record the 12th win from 16 Bundesliga encounters on Sunday. Meanwhile, Frankfurt suffered their fourth straight loss, reports Xinhua.
It were only Dortmund in the opening period yet the visitors from Frankfurt opened the scoring against the run of the game, as Alexander Meier unleashed an unstoppable shot from 22 meters into the top left in the 7th minute.
Dortmund kept it bowling and levelled the scores through Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who pushed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's square pass over the goal line with 24 minutes played.
The hosts took complete control of the encounter, especially after Frankfurt's Slobodan Medojevic saw his second straight card. Thus, Thomas Tuchel's men capitalised on their superior number after the break to bounce back as Bundesliga top scorer Aubameyang finished off a combination to make it 2-1. It is the 18th goal of the season for the Gabon international.
Frankfurt were unable to hold the pace with Dortmund. Hence, Mats Hummels and substitute Adrian Ramos sealed the 4-1 victory on home soil.
With the result, Dortmund tighten their 2nd spot with a five point gap to front-runners Bayern Munich whereas Frankfurt slumped to the 14th place and in touching distance to the relegation play-off spot.
Elsewhere, relegation-threatened Augsburg secured crucial points on home soil after edging the Schalke with a last-grasp decider by midfielder Caiuby Francisco da Silva.
Augsburg wrapped the 50th Bundesliga victory of the club's history. It is besides that, the very first win over Schalke.
The hosts were able to break the deadlock with 34 minutes into the game as Jeong-Ho Hong deflected Dominik Kohr's shot on target to beat Schalke custodian Ralf Faehrmann from very close range.
Both sides pressed for the winner but Augsburg had the last laugh as Caiuby capitalized on a failed clearance by Schalke's defence to mark the 2-1 winner for the hosts in the dying second of the game.
After suffering the sixth loss of the season, Schalke slump to the eighth place. Meanwhile, Augsburg jump onto the 14th place to ease their relegation worries.