Augsburg earn deserved point against Leipzig

Augsburg played out a 2-2 draw with RB Leipzig on matchday 23 of the Bundesliga in front of 28,314 fans. Augsburg took the lead through Kostas Stafylidis, but Leipzig turned the game around with goals from Timo Werner and Marvin Compper. However, Martin Hinteregger secured a point for the home side with a well worked equaliser. Augsburg head coach Manuel Baum made two changes to the team that defeated Darmstadt last week. Raphael Framberger started on the right flank and Kevin Danso made his debut in a back three alongside Gojko Kacar and Martin Hinteregger. Augsburg began the game well. Dong-Won Ji found himself open, 16 yards out, but his shot went wide of the right-hand post. Shortly afterwards, no one could get on the end of Raphael Framberger's dangerous cross. Then Leipzig began to assert their authority on the match with some good combination play. In the 10th minute, Forsberg weaved his way into the penalty box, only to be halted by a strong tackle from debutant Kevin Danso. Then came a wonder goal from our Greek defender. A miss-placed clearance fell at the feet of Stafylidis and the defender promptly hammered the ball into the top left-hand corner from 30 yards. Augsburg were looking good. After a good tackle in midfield from Jan Movarek, Augsburg created another chance, this time Raul Bobadilla put Dong-Won Ji's cross over the bar. At the other end, Leipzig equalised. Naby Keita kept hold of the ball well in midfield and threaded the ball through to Timo Werner, who stuck the ball into the bottom right-hand corner to make it 1-1. The game then became an intense midfield battle. There were a lot of niggly fouls to end a pulsating first-half. Leipzig started the second-half in ambitious fashion. Forsberg tried a shot from distance which Marwin Hitz saved. However, there was nothing the goalkeeper could do about Marvin Compper's header in the 52nd minute. Compper met a Forsberg corner perfectly and directed the ball into the bottom corner. The came Augsburg's first chance of the second period, as Raul Bobadilla forced a save out of Peter Gulacsi. Augsburg refused to lie down and levelled the match on the coutner. After some scrappy play in midfield, Ja-Cheol Koo found Martin Hinteregger in space just inside the Leipzig half and he ran with ball before firing in the equaliser. The score was all-square again. Neither side was satisfied with a draw and, spurred on by the vociferous crowd, Manuel Baum's men went in search of a winner. The best chance fell to Stafylidis in the 87th minute, but he was unable to convert and the match finished as a draw.