Hoffenheim fail to climb back into top-four despite comeback draw in Augsburg

Augsburg took an early two-goal lead by scoring from their first clear-cut chances. Alexis Claude-Maurice opened the floodgates with a smart finish after playing one-two with Robin Fellhauer.

Three minutes later, Hoffenheim conceded the second goal with some poor defending. Ozan Kabak was unable to stop Michael Gregoritsch from scoring a brilliant goal from Jeffrey Gouweleeuw’s long pass.

Augsburg’s captain registered an assist in his first game of the year, while the January signing ended his five-game goalless drought in style. Gregoritsch, who stole the headlines with his sportsmanship incident last week against HSV, had another eventful half as he hit the woodwork in injury-time.

However, Hoffenheim leveled the score by then. Robin Hranac’s first goal for the club gave them hope before Bazoumana Touré’s strike from a difficult angle. The center-back headed home Vladimír Coufal’s corner-kick after it escaped a couple of Hoffenheim players.

Then, Toure, who usually provides assists to his teammates, netted his first 2026 goal in what might be another attempt at crossing. The goal resembled Maicon’s famous strike in the 2010 World Cup for the eventual finalists, Brazil.

Compared to the end-to-end nature of first-half, there was very little action after the break. The hosts were slightly the better team, but they ran the risk of finishing the game with ten-man as all three of their center-backs were cautioned before the hour mark.

Oliver Baumann had a poor first-half, but he made his first real save from Claude-Maurice’s attempt with twenty minutes from time. However, the new German #1 had to face a penalty-kick in the closing stage as substitute Bernardo brought down Anton Kade.

On the night he entered the top ten list for Bundesliga appearances, Baumann didn’t need to save the penalty as Claude-Maurice, who was selected as the "Man of the Match", blasted it wide. Then, the 35-year-old had to thank Leon Avdullahu as his mistake nearly gave the Frenchman another chance to become the hero of the night. Grischa Promel nearly wins it with the final kick of the game when his header slightly misses the target.

Christian Ilzer’s side went four games without a win for the first time this season as they missed the opportunity to tie with RB Leipzig and VfB Stuttgart on points. Augsburg are also without a win in their last five games, but they have almost reached their season target of survival.

Hoffenheim will host second-placed Borussia Dortmund next weekend, while Augsburg face Bayer Leverkusen away from home.