Frankfurt's initial lead through Erwin Hoffer (40') was swiftly cancelled out by Ronny König (45'), but although the home side fought gallantly in the second half even after Adil Lachheb's late dismissal, the visitors were able to steal the points at the death as Mohamadou Idrissou (86') took advantage of a rare mistake in the Aue back line.
Aue unfazed
In spite of the considerable discrepancy between the two sides in the standings, Aue certainly didn't shy away during the opening exchanges and offered a first threat on goal when Tobias Kempe tried his luck from distance, clearing the bar by a matter of inches. Frankfurt retorted with an opportunity of their own at the other end, Erwin Hoffer firing narrowly past the top corner.
It was a fairly colourful start, but the favourites from Frankfurt soon began to wrestle control. Eventually the Eagles' pressure told as some good work in the box by Sebastian Jung allowed his namesake Rode to roll across for Hoffer, who expertly netted his fourth of the season in the centre.
Fast response
As the half-time whistle approached, Hoffer had another decent opportunity to extend the lead but couldn't get enough on the finish, allowing Aue a reprieve they would soon capitalise on. Oliver Schröder fired a fierce dipping strike just over, but it was a warning Frankfurt didn't heed as Ronny König levelled the scores on the stroke of half-time, glancing in Jan Hochscheidt's cross at the near post.
Boosted by the equaliser, Aue pressed on in their search for points, spurning two wonderful opportunities to move in front within 15 minutes of the restart. First Guido Kocer was sent galloping into the box and struck goalwards. Oka Nikolov parried back into danger, but König couldn't get his foot over the ball to steer in rebound. Then Jan Hochscheidt wasted an even better chance, smacking against the post in space after König's initial strike had again been spilled by Nikolov.
Agonising finish
Kempe came within a whisker of the top corner when he got on the end of Kevin Schlitte's cross, but things took a turn for the worse for Aue with a quarter of an hour remaining as defender Adil Lachheb was given a straight red card for scything down Rode as he sprinted through on goal.
Despite being a man down, Aue defended bravely and even went close to a winner through Kocer's long-range effort, but their misfortune would be Frankfurt's joy four minutes from the end as Thomas Paulus, attempting to clear, kicked straight against Schlitte in his own box. The ball rebounded kindly for Idrissou, who swept in to break the Violas hearts and bring Armin Veh's side to within two points of league leaders Fortuna Düsseldorf.
