Augsburg earn important win over Union

Augsburg 2-0 Union Berlin
Goals: 1-0 Gregoritsch (16'), 2-0 Hahn (assist: Niederlechner) 59'

Niko Gießelmann was left with the freedom to head the first chance of the game over after just five minutes, but the reply came soon from Florian Niederlechner, who muscled his way through on only his first start since Matchday 6 before sending a low shot wide. Gregoritsch and Niederlechner – playing together for the first time since September 2020 – continued to roll back the years with a combination which saw the latter get that little bit closer to finding the inside of the left-hand post, before Gregoritsch showed how it should be done. Union goalkeeper Andreas Luthe played a risky pass out from the back which came straight back to the Augsburg forward, who just had to turn and pick his spot to give Augsburg the lead. Sheraldo Becker scuppered two chances at the other end before Niederlechner was again denied on two occasions. A dominant Augsburg then went close to doubling their lead with Gregoritsch's effort hammering the crossbar, though they nearly conceded on the stroke of half-time when Gießelmann headed over from close range.

That chance showed how slender Augsburg's lead was, which was why Markus Wieinzierl's men set about making things a little more comfortable for themselves with a succession of shots topped by a spectacular effort from Hahn, which curled away from Luthe on its way into the top right-hand corner. It augured well for the Bavarians, whose last Bundesliga win – against Cologne – came thanks to a long-range strike from Niklas Dorsch, and there was nothing to suggest this game would not end also in a home win as Union coach Urs Fischer used his full complement of substitutes midway through the second half, indicating he was not entirely happy with what he had seen from his team. One of those five subs – Keita Endo – gave the returning Rafal Gikiewicz some work to do low to his right, but it was overall too little from Union to concern Augsburg as they lifted themselves out of the bottom three, at least for a night.

• Taiwo Awoniyi returned from the Africa Cup of Nations to play his 50th game for Union.
• Gregoritsch has scored in three of Augsburg's four games in 2022, and is Augsburg's top-scorer this season with five.
• Hahn has scored three goals this season, with Augsburg winning on each occasion: 2-1 against Bayern Munich and 2-0 against Cologne before this win.
• Augsburg ended a five-game winless streak in the Bundesliga.
• Christopher Trimmel made his 78th Bundesliga appearance for Union, levelling former defender Marvin Friedrich for the most top-flight appearances for the club.

Augsburg: Gikiewicz - Framberger, Gouweleeuw (c), Oxford, Iago (Uduokhai 80') - Hahn (Sarenren Bazee 87'), Maier (Moravek 87'), Dorsch, Vargas (Pedersen 80') - Niederlechner (Zeqiri 74'), Gregoritsch
Unused subs: Koubek, Gumny, Finnbogason, Günther
Out: Jensen (knock), Pepi (not included), Strobl (knee)
Coach: Markus Weinzierl

Union: Luthe - Baumgartl, Knoche, Heintz (Endo 75') - Trimmel (c), Haraguchi (Michel 61'), Khedira, Gießelmann (Oczipka 75') – Becker, Awoniyi (Behrens 75'), Voglsammer (Öztunali 61')
Unused subs: Rönnow, Jaeckel, Ujah, Möhwald
Out: Prömel (not included), Ryerson (not included)
Coach: Urs Fischer