BERLIN: Ondrej Duda scored to salvage a 1-1 draw for Cologne against Eintracht Frankfurt and earned his team their first Bundesliga point of the season on Sunday.

Cologne had started with three straight defeats and looked headed for another loss when Andre Silva converted a penalty for the visitors in first-half injury time. Sebastiaan Bornauw was penalized through VAR for an apparent foul on Daichi Kamada.

But Duda equalized against the run of play in the 52nd minute, firing in from a central position after Kingsley Ehizibue picked him out with a precise cross.

The draw denied Frankfurt the chance of joining RB Leipzig on 10 points at the top of the table and lifted Cologne one point above winless Mainz.

Schalke 04 also earned their first Bundesliga point this season as Goncalo Paciencia’s second-half equaliser rescued a 1-1 draw at home to Union Berlin.

Paciencia’s 69th minute header ended a nightmare start to the season for Schalke, who began the day with no points and one goal from their first three games.

After a cagey first half, Marvin Friedrich nodded in a Christopher Trimmel cross to put Union ahead shortly after the break.

Schalke coach Manuel Baum, who replaced David Wagner last month, responded by bringing on Paciencia, who levelled the scores after former Union player Steven Skrzybski had forced a corner on the counter-attack.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2020