Meet Hahn & Gregoritsch
FC Augsburg made a strong statement in the relegation battle of the Bundesliga and robbed VfL Bochum of the celebration of staying in the league at an early stage. The table-14. won 2-0 (2-0) against their direct competitor on Sunday, was able to narrow the gap to the Revierelf to just one point with 35 points and increase the lead over Hertha and Stuttgart to at least six points before they meet on Sunday evening.
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, André 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 trainer Thomas Reis, who was only allowed to watch the game from the stands after his red card in Freiburg, but was still 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.
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 Rubén 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 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. Danilo 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′).
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