northoh a blackout Berlin Union FC Augsburg introduced Diogo Leite in the fight for Europe. Thanks to the 2-0 (0-0) home victory on Friday afternoon, football coach Jess Thorup's team temporarily reduced the gap with sixth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt to just three points.
At the same time, the Augsburg team increased its lead to seventh place. TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and SC Freiburg initially with three points. If the very good champion Bayer Leverkusen also wins the DFB Cup, seventh place will also be enough for the playoffs of the Europa Conference League.
The Berlin Union often presented itself as determined to go on the offensive. However, it was not enough to win the eighth consecutive Bundesliga match. Augsburg to finally conquer. Diogo Leite played an important role in this, whose failed back pass was taken advantage of by Phillip Tietz (47th) to score FCA's redeeming goal in front of 29,731 spectators. Joker Sven Michel, who played for Union, made it all clear in the 81st minute. With six more points above 16th place in relegation, the Berliners continue in the fight against relegation.
In the absence of injured right-backs Kevin Mbabu and Robert Gumny, Jess Thorup initially opted to experiment with a three-man defense in the 3-1 defeat against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim a week ago. There were no signs of that against Unión. From the start, Maximilian Bauer, a trained central defender, occupied the right flank.
The Augsburg team, including the injured Kristijan Jakic, Iago and Fredrik Jensen were absent and initially got into trouble against one of the weakest attacking teams in the Bundesliga. Defender Jeffrey Gouweleeuw missed a long ball, goalkeeper Finn Dahmen had to run out of the goal and save Union's Benedict Hollerbach (12th). This scene only raised the pulse of the Augsburg fans for a very short time.
The Berliners tried to reach the top quickly and directly. And coach Nenad Bjelica's team always achieved it surprisingly well. After a combination between Hollerbach and Mikkel Kaufmann, Alex Kral (26th) beat a cross by a few centimeters and prepared to shoot.
And the inhabitants of Augsburg? They lacked courage in the first half. They developed neither speed nor strength when advancing. They finished the first 45 minutes without a shot on goal.
Augsburg had Leite to thank for the dream start to the second half. The centre-back made a backward pass directly to Tietz's feet without any pressure. The former Darmstadt player scored his eighth goal of the season. He FC Augsburg But after the first goal there was no longer security. Michel, who was simply not offside, at least made things clear later, as can be seen from the video.