Super sub Sane seals Bayern win, Bundesliga shows Ukraine solidarity

BERLIN: Leroy Sane grabbed a late winner as Bayern Munich won 1-0 at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday to open a nine-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga, while Germany's top-flight clubs showed solidarity in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Sane came off the bench to score Bayern's late winner in a game overshadowed by outside events with Frankfurt's stadium lit in the Ukrainian national colours of blue and yellow.

Electronic signs at the ground read "Stop it, Putin!" in a message to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

There was a minute's silence, as there were at other grounds around Germany, before kick-off.

The Bayern team wore black armbands for the victims of the conflict while Munich captain Robert Lewandowski wore a yellow and blue armband.

Frankfurt had beaten Bayern in their last tow meetings and this was a hard-fought scrap until Sane intervened.

Just four minutes after Sane came on, Joshua Kimmich's deft pass through the defence put Bayern's winger into space to roll his shot past Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.

It was heart-breaking for the hosts who went close with chances by Frankfurt striker Filip Kostic.

At the other end, Eintracht goalkeeper Kevin Trapp kept his side in the game with a string of saves and was poleaxed in the first half when a Kingsley Coman shot smashed into his face.

Borussia Dortmund can trim Bayern's lead on Sunday away to Augsburg.

Earlier, Japan midfielder Genki Haraguchi finally scored his first goal for Union Berlin in a 3-1 home win over Mainz.

Haraguchi ended his 22-match wait to score when the attacking midfielder cracked in his first goal since joining from second-tier Hanover 96 before the season.

Sheraldo Becker scored Union's superb second with a long-range chip from