Union lose at Augsburg but stay fourth, Frankfurt win thriller

AUGSBURG, Germany :High-flying Union Berlin suffered a surprise 2-0 defeat at struggling Augsburg on Saturday but remained fourth in the Bundesliga after Freiburg lost 1-0 at Cologne.

Austrian striker Michael Gregoritsch fired Augsburg in front in the 16th minute and Andre Hahn sealed the win with a goal just before the hour-mark.

Augsburg inflicted a first defeat on Union since Dec. 12 while Markus Weinzierl's side climbed out of the relegation zone and moved up to 15th in the standings.

Freiburg had the chance to leapfrog Union into fourth spot, the final Champions League qualification berth, but they lost at Cologne thanks to Anthony Modeste's first-half effort, the French forward grabbing his 14th league goal of the season.

The win took Cologne up to sixth in the standings on 32 points, one below fifth-placed Freiburg.

Ajdin Hrustic came off the bench to score two goals from outside the area as Eintracht Frankfurt won 3-2 in a thrilling game at Vfb Stuttgart.

The Australia international scored his first goal two minutes after coming off the bench at the start of the second half, striking a cross from a corner on the volley to restore his side's lead after Stuttgart's Valdemor Anton had cancelled out Evan Ndicka's seventh-minute opener.

Stuttgart striker Sasa Kalajdzic equalised before Frankfurt took the lead for a third time in the game, Hrustic firing at goal from outside the box and watching his shot skid into the net via a deflection.

Frankfurt moved up to ninth in the standings while Stuttgart remained second-bottom.

Mainz won 2-0 at home to Hoffenheim thanks to late goals by Lee Jae-sung and Moussa Niakhate while Arminia drew 1-1 at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach.

(Reporting by Richard Martin, editing by Ed Osmond)