Dortmund beat Frankfurt to go top in Bundesliga

Borussia Dortmund returned to winning ways in the Bundesliga with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday to top the table for at least one night.

Two substitutes eventually made the difference after Frankfurt had held firm for a long time, as Maximilian Beier curled the winner in the 80th minute off Jobe Bellingham.

Dortmund, who had drawn their two previous league matches, moved three points ahead of champions Bayern Munich who play at third-placed Freiburg on Sunday and will go top again with victory before hosting Dortmund next weekend.

Serhou Guirassy had a dangerous shot in the 15th minute saved by Frankfurt goalkeeper Noah Atubolu. Guirassy should have scored two minutes later one on one against the keeper but Atubolu prevailed again with his right arm.

A deflected shot from Daniel Svensson hit the top of the bar, but Frankfurt almost stole a 34th minute lead when a mistake from Felix Nmecha saw Younes Ebnoutalib with only Gregor Kobel to beat but couldn't get the ball past him.

Kobel tipped a shot from Fares Chaibi over the bar shortly after the restart before Guirassy came even closer at the other end when his header off a corner kick hit the crossbar in the 53rd.

Beier came on in the 68th and Bellingham in the 79th. A minute later, the two combined for Beier to curl into the right corner from the edge of the area for a late victory.

In earlier Saturday action, RB Leipzig trounced Elversberg 4-0, Werder Bremen won 3-2 at Mainz, Paderborn defeated SV Hamburg 1-0, Augsburg and Union Berlin drew 1-1 and there were no goals at Cologne v Schalke.