Lewis Holtby's early strike against the run of play had given the hosts the advantage, but the dominant Frankfurt deservedly levelled things through Marco Russ before Caio's measured second half drive gave the Eagles all three points.
Frankfurt start better
Despite Frankfurt enjoying the better of the early exchanges it was Bochum who took the lead in just the tenth minute, Holtby left with the simple job of finishing into the empty net following a superb low cross from the right by Vahed Hashemian.
Undeterred by the deficit, the visitors continued to dictate the flow of the game and were duly rewarded just before the half hour mark when Marco Russ rose highest to flick a Benjamin Köhler free-kick over Philipp Heerwagen and into the far corner. It was a deserved equaliser on the balance of play and was a prime example of the danger Frankfurt have posed from set pieces this season.
Caio strikes the winner
That goal allowed the guests to relax as Michael Skibbe's troops began to stroke the ball around in midfield. Ümit Korkmaz almost gave Eintracht the lead on 37 minutes but his clipped finish landed on the roof of the net following a pass from Caio.
The second period saw the game level out in terms of possession, but Eintracht were rewarded for their first half dominance when Caio let fly from all of 30 yards, giving Heerwagen no chance as the ball flew into the bottom left hand corner.
Fourth defeat in a row
As the rain came down in the Ruhr, Frankfurt had another goal chalked off for a dubious offside decision against Hamit Altintop on 76 minutes following some excellent build up play, while at the other end substitute Zlatko Dedic wasted a superb opportunity to restore parity when half volleyed into the stands after Paul Freier found him unmarked at the far post.
But there was to be no way back for VfL whose fourth defeat in a row embroils them in the relegation quagmire once again. Frankfurt, meanwhile, move within four points of the European places in seventh, though they have played a game more than all their closest rivals.
Bochum: Heerwagen - Concha, Maltritz, Mavraj, Fuchs - Dabrowski, Johansson (Klimowicz 75') - Prokoph (Freier 62'), Holtby - Hashemian (Dedic 62'), Sestak
Frankfurt: Nikolov - Jung, Chris, Russ, Köhler - Meier, Schwegler - P. Ochs (M. Heller 80'), Korkmaz (Fenin 66') - Halil Altintop (Teber 85'), Caio
Goals: 1-0 Holtby (10'), 1-1 Russ (29') 1-2 Caio (64')
Attendance: 20,000 (rewirpowerstadion)
Andy James
