Augsburg dispatch wasteful Mönchengladbach
A second half thriller sees Augsburg better Monchengladbach by two goals at the WWK Arena
Monchengladbach came into the clash winless in the Bundesliga since 23rd January when Marco Rose’s men outclassed a Haaland-inspired Dortmund. The last time Gladbach were successful in keeping the opposition quiet, they held Wolfsburg to a stalemate at the Volkswagen Arena 5 match weeks back.
This time around, it was Augsburg who effectively faded the visitor’s hope of making it to Europe next season.
Monchengladbach were the better team in the first half but were punished for their wasteful showing – the main missed opportunity coming from Lars Stindl’s penalty in the 38th minute. Several good chances at hand were wasted before the penalty miss, including by Florian Neuhaus, Matthias Ginter and the captain himself.
Ruben Vargas broke the deadlock seven minutes into the second half when he met Daniel Caligiuri’s corner kick at the near post. Gladbach’s Marcus Thuram came close twice – one from a wide header and another from a fierce shot which forced a save from Rafal Gikiewicz.
Florian Neuhaus bore fruit for Gladbach’s dominant first half showing, in the 68th minute, as he unleashed a fantastic shot in the bottom right corner from just inside the penalty area.
8 minutes later, Augsburg knocked in a blow from 6 yards as midfielder Marco Richter made the most of a stray ball. The hosts killed the game in the 89th minute. Andre Hahn complete a counter-attack with a deft chip over Yann Sommer, making it 3-1 and a satisfying three points for Augsburg.
Gladbach face Manchester City next at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Romania. Die Borussen will look to overturn their 2-0 loss at the hands of Guardiola’s men who comfortably dispatched the Germans, thanks to goals from Bernardo Silva and Gabriel Jesus.
Augsburg face Freiburg next Sunday, looking to enter the top ten after registering disappointing results themselves in the past few weeks.