Important trio for FC Augsburg: With an away win in Bochum, the Fuggerstadt team increase their chances of staying up. Meanwhile, VfL could have to tremble again.
FC Augsburg made a strong statement in the Bundesliga relegation battle and robbed VfL Bochum of the celebration of staying in the league early on. The table-14. prevailed 2-0 (2-0) against their direct competitor on Sunday and, with 35 points, was able to move up to one point behind the Revierelf. The Bochum team remained without a win in the third home game in a row and are also not yet secured. In front of 23,000 spectators in the Ruhr Stadium, Andre Hahn (15th minute) and Michael Gregoritsch (43rd, penalty kick) scored the goals for the guests, who earned the victory with a first-class performance.
VfL coach Thomas Reis, who was only allowed to follow the game from the stands after his red card in Freiburg, but was able to deliver the speech to the team before 3 p.m., had changed his team to four positions and Simon Zoller was back in call the starting eleven. After a seven-month break due to a cruciate ligament rupture, the 30-year-old has only made two short appearances and should liven up the Bochum offensive. “Close up – let’s stay up” demanded the VfL fans on a large banner in the curve.
FCA coach Weinzierl sees the required reaction from his team
Bochum’s coach, who was represented on the bench by his assistant Markus Gellhaus, saw a home team that started with plenty of pressure, but fell behind after just 15 minutes due to an individual error. Hahn took advantage of a fatal mistake by Maxim Leitsch, who lobbed the ball over goalkeeper Manuel Riemann to make it 1-0 for the guests. Shortly thereafter, Augsburg’s second-best scorer even had the chance to make it 2-0, but narrowly missed a cross from Ruben Vargas.
FCA coach Markus Weinzierl had demanded a reaction from his team after the disappointing defeat against Hertha BSC and had primarily strengthened the wing positions with Daniel Caligiuri and Ruben Vargas. The defensive line around captain Jeffrey Gouweleeuw was compact and safe. In addition, Gregoritsch used the opportunity shortly before the break to convert a dubious penalty kick to make it 2-0. Bruno Soares is said to have previously fouled Caligiuri in the penalty area.
The hosts tried to initiate the turnaround with a very offensive three-way change. Sebastian Polter, Jürgen Locadia and Danny Blum should provide momentum again. But in the game, which ended up being quite disjointed, the hosts could no longer find their rhythm. Eduard Löwen missed the best chance with a direct free kick, which Rafal Gikiewicz brilliantly parried (78′).