Leipzig break the hearts of ten man Augsburg
RB Leipzig come back from 3 goals down to break Augsburg hearts. The 3-3 draw meant the hosts are still without a league win over Leipzig since 2017. Whereas the visitors will thank Iago for helping them retrieve a point from a game they looked entirely out of.
The WWK Arena was the setting for the visit of a Leipzig side bulldozing their way through their recent competition. Unbeaten in seven, and looking to extend their winning run to four games in all competitions, Leipzig would not have been at the top of Enrico Maaßen's list of sides to turn Augsburg's form around against. As for the hosts, two consecutive defeats would have left a sour taste in their mouths, after a positive start to the season. They knew a win would mean they would leapfrog Leipzig in the table.
A tetchy and tense start to the game saw the deadlock broken just after the half-hour mark. As when a cross was flicked on in the Leipzig area, it fell to Ruben Vargas, who tried to turn David Raum. However, the Leipzig wingback was judged to have charged through the back of the Augsburg man. The subsequent penalty was dispatched to perfection by Berisha to claim his first goal of the season.
Then the hosts thought they had doubled their lead just before the break when Berisha swung a cross to the front post looking for Ermedin Demirovic. His run was completely untracked by any of the Leipzig defenders. Despite that, his flick sailed agonisingly wide of the post, with stand-in Leipzig goalkeeper Janis Blaswich rooted to the spot.
The halftime whistle could not come quick enough for Marco Rose, who must have been wondering if it were in fact Augsburg who were on a seven-game unbeaten run. Despite only leading in home games for 31 minutes before kick-off, the hosts looked in control of a game that they were deservedly leading.
With no personnel change at the break for Leipzig, there would be no change in performance. As once again Mergim Berisha, this time from a corner, crossed in for Demirovic. His header was far too strong as he completed his personal redemption. The man that missed the decisive penalty in a Freiburg shirt in the DFB cup final last season had looked to put Leipzig to the sword in an Augsburg shirt in this campaign.
The three points for Augsburg were all but confirmed when a freekick from Berisha found Vargas at the front post. His touch took him wide but an excellent shot back across the face of goal saw the ball nestle into the bottom corner. An incredible display by Augsburg that never looked like fading.
That was until hope was given to Die Rotten Bullen when a moment of madness from Iago saw him receive two yellow cards in the space of ten seconds. A foul on Schlager was followed by him confronting the Leipzig man, who in the end found himself back on the deck. A decision that put his teammates on the back foot, even more, when Szoboszlai picked out the clever run of Andre Silva at the back post to clinch his first goal of the season.
Chances came and chances went for Leipzig, who looked all but doomed with two minutes left on the clock. However, Augsburg would have their hearts in their mouths with two minutes left when a free kick from Nkunku beat Koubek at his front post. Despite getting a hand to the ball it was not enough and Leipzig began to believe that the comeback was on.
Then just two minutes later the unthinkable became reality as a ball clipped over the top of the Augsburg back line found the forward run of Andre Silva. His shot was parried into the path of Hugo Novoa who tapped into an empty net to break Augsburg hearts.
The full-time whistle blew to end a game that will go down as a Bundesliga classic and one of the games of the season. Augsburg were in dreamland and looked like getting their first league win over Leipzig since 2017. However, the Iago red card proved fatal for the hosts. Leipzig will reflect on a game where they were second-best for seventy minutes, but now find themselves one point away from Europe.