Augsburg pile misery on Mainz

Augsburg 3-1 Mainz
Goals: 1-0 Vargas (40'), 1-1 Onisiwo (64'), 2-1 Hahn (80'), 3-1 Hahn (90+1')

Augsburg coach Heiko Herrlich resolved his headache of who to partner Michael Gregoritsch up front by picking both Hahn and Vargas, and it proved to be an inspired decision. Both were Augsburg's most dangerous outlets in an otherwise tight and tactical opening 45 minutes. Twice Vargas carved out chances before scoring from what was arguably the most difficult of his three opportunities, just before the interval. Iago's shot was blocked by Jeremiah St. Juste and the ball looped up close enough for the Swiss to shape himself and acrobatically send an overhead kick past the powerless Robin Zentner.

Bottom-placed Mainz needed to sharpen up their attack to find a route back into the goal after failing to give Rafal Gikiewicz any work to do, and Karim Onisiwo was the man chosen by Jan-Moritz Lichte to do just that. Within five minutes of replacing Jean-Philippe Mateta, he took Levin Öztunali's cross in his stride and struck the ball through Gikiewicz's legs to bring the guests level. It also gave Mainz belief, although their attempts to take the lead almost cost them when they left their defence wide open and Gregoritsch wasted a glorious opportunity to restore Augsburg's lead. He was subsequently replaced by Alfred Finnbogason, who made an immediate impact in setting up Hahn to stroke in a second for the Bavarians 10 minutes from time. He then converted an even easier chance in stoppage time to wrap up Augsburg's first win in four.

• Vargas has scored three goals this season, each of which has given Augsburg a 1-0 lead.
• Onisiwo last scored at the end of February: this was his first goal in 11 appearances since.
• Hahn scored his seventh Bundesliga brace, though it was his first in over four years (since 7 May 2016 for Gladbach against Leverkusen).
• Finnbogason has hit the target six times in his last four games against Mainz.
• There has never been a 0-0 stalemate between these teams, while none of the last 10 matches have ended in draws.
• Mainz may be the only side yet to win a point this term, but since Augsburg’s promotion to the top flight in 2011, Mainz have only beaten Freiburg (nine times) more often than they have the Fuggerstädter (eight).

Watch: Vargas: "You don't score them every day"

Augsburg: Gikiewicz - Framberger (Gumny 60'), Gouweleeuw (c), Uduokhai, Iago - Strobl, Gruezo - Caligiuri, Hahn, Vargas (Sarenren Bazee 79') - Gregoritsch (Finnbogason 75')
Out: Moravek (muscular), Niederlechner (abdominal strain)
Unused subs: Koubek, Pedersen, Suchy, Khedira, Jensen, Oxford
Coach: Heiko Herrlich 

Mainz: Zentner - St. Juste, Kilian, Niakhate, Brosinski - Kunde (Stöger 83'), Latza (c) (Edimilson Fernandes 84') - Öztunali (Ji 82'), Boetius, Quaison (Burkhardt 83')  – Mateta (Onisiwo 58')
Unused subs: Dahmen, Mwene, Leandro Martins, Hack
Out: -
Coach: Jan-Moritz Lichte