Football Kramaric and Weghorst meet
Hoffenheim’s double strike ends Augsburg’s series
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Augsburg, who were so strong in the second half of the season, lost another game after five games. The defeat at TSG Hoffenheim is a bitter setback for Augsburg in the race for the European Cup places.
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim has put a damper on FC Augsburg in the fight for a European Cup place. Coach Pellegrino Matarazzo’s team defeated their direct rivals 3:1 (2:0). This also ended a series of five unbeaten games for the guests. Wout Weghorst (17th minute) with his sixth goal and Andrej Kramaric (20th) with his ninth goal of the season gave Hoffenheim an early cushion.
Ermedin Demirovic (61st) made things exciting again for FCA with his 15th goal in this round. Coach Jess Thorup’s team then chased after the deficit in vain. Joker Ihlas Bebou (90th) then made everything clear. Augsburg, Hoffenheim and SC Freiburg are now 36 points each behind sixth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt (42).
Hoffenheim celebrates a deserved win against Augsburg
Source: Getty Images/Alexander Hassenstein
Augsburg started the game again with captain Demirovic after serving a yellow card suspension and without the injured Kevin Mbabu, Iago, Fredrik Jensen, Niklas Dorsch and Elvis Rexhbecaj. The guests had only just sorted themselves out when Kristijan Jakic had to leave the field after twelve minutes with ankle problems.
Double strike decides the game
Just a few minutes later, FCA appeared powerless against a lightning counterattack by Hoffenheim: Weghorst initiated it himself and pushed the ball into the net after a cross from Pavel Kaderabek. The next counterattack, when a ball was intercepted by goalkeeper Finn Dahmen, also happened much too quickly for the Fuggerstadt team: Kramaric took the measure from 18 meters and hit the right corner with a shot – 2-0.
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A week after the late defeat at leaders Bayer Leverkusen, TSG confidently played down the first half against the visibly sobered Augsburg team. Goalkeeper Oliver Baumann only had to save once against the agile Ruben Vargas when David Jurasek let the FCA playmaker run (42nd).
Arne Engels sent a sign of life immediately after the break, whose touchdown Baumann just managed to deflect around the post. The guests now played more courageously forward, Hoffenheim managed their lead too casually. A deflected shot from Arne Maier landed on the post (56th) – and then Demirovic scored after a pass from Philip Tietz. Vargas in particular kept pushing his colleagues forward, but the Augsburg team could no longer find the decisive gap.
