Bundesliga
Bochum celebrated back-to-back Bundesliga wins, and a long-awaited return to winning ways on the road, with a 1-0 victory at ailing Augsburg.
Augsburg 0-1 Bochum
Goals: 0-1 Antwi-Adjei (58’)
Rafal Gikiewicz made a fine save to keep Augsburg on terms from Christopher Antwi-Adjei’s daisy-cutting drive, and the Bochum forward struck the outside of the post moments later as the guests created the first openings. At the other end, Ermedin Demirovic’s spectacular attempt at an overhead kick turned into a perfect assist for Florian Niederlechner just in front of Manuel Riemann’s goal, but the Augsburg forward may have been still admiring his team-mate’s acrobatics as he failed to get a telling touch on the ball. Antwi-Adjei would have had an even bigger chance to beat Gikiewicz had he not got the ball stuck between his legs with only the last line of the Augsburg defence to beat, but another chance went begging. Augsburg then lost both Jeffrey Gouweleeuw and Carlos Gruezo to injuries, with the Ecuador international fighting back the tears with his World Cup dream potentially in jeopardy.
Not being behind at the break was already a step forward for Bochum, who took a leap towards a rare away win when Antwi-Adjei’s next effort hit the back of the net. He latched on to Kostas Stafylidis’ lofted ball over the Augsburg defence and, though his first effort was saved by Gikiewicz, the ball rebounded against the Bochum forward and past the Augsburg goalkeeper. The hosts had an immediate opportunity to reply when a penalty was awarded for a Simon Zoller handball, but Mergim Berisha sent the spot-kick onto the top of the crossbar. Gikiewicz prevented Antwi-Adjei from turning the screw with yet another fine one-armed stop, but his heroics were not being replicated at the other end of the field, as a faltering Augsburg side slumped to a seventh straight game without a win, eight including their DFB Cup elimination. As a result, the gap between the two teams was reduced to just two points, with the Bavarians right back in relegation danger.
Augsburg: Gikiewicz - Gumny, Oxford (Bauer 76'), Gouweleeuw (c) (Vargas 27', Petkov 77'), Uduokhai – Gruezo (Maier 30'), Rexhbecaj (Baumgartlinger 76') – Demirovic, Niederlechner, Iago – Berisha
Unused subs: Koubek, Caligiuri, Jensen, Winther
Out: Dorsch (metatarsal), Framberger (knee), Hahn (knee), Pedersen (thigh), Sarenren Bazee (cruciate ligament), Strobl (knee)
Coach: Enrico Maaßen
Bochum: Riemann - Gamboa (Janko 82'), Ordets, Lampropoulos, Soares - Losilla (c), Stöger (Masovic 82'), Stafylidis (Osterhage 73') – Zoller (Förster 64'), Hofmann, Antwi-Adjei (Osei-Tutu 73')
Unused subs: Esser, Holtmann, Ganvoula, Horn
Out: Asano (knee), Goralski (muscular), Grave (shoulder), Heintz (muscular), Johansson (ill), Mousset (fitness), Masovic (muscular)
Coach: Thomas Letsch