All square between Augsburg and Gladbach
FC Augsburg and Borussia Mönchengladbach shared four goals in an action-packed Matchday 23 encounter.
FC Augsburg 2-2 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Goals: 0-1 Raffael (34’), 1-1 Finnbogason (50’), 2-1 Caiuby (53’), 2-2 Johnson (55’)
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Gladbach were 4-0 up after just 21 minutes the last time they met Augsburg on Matchday 6, but the Foals were made to work a lot harder for their lead at the WWK Arena. Augsburg duo Halil Altintop and Dominik Kohr spurned decent opportunities either side of leading Gladbach goalscorer Raffael’s predatory 34th-minute opener, before Marwin Hitz pulled off his second point-blank save of a pulsating half at the feet of Borussia forward Thorgan Hazard.
The action showed no signs of abating at the start of the second period as Augsburg raced into a 2-1 lead thanks to quick-fire efforts from Alfred Finnbogason and Caiuby. The hosts were pegged back two minutes later, however, with USMNT international Fabian Johnson sweeping home from Nico Elvedi. Gladbach’s Oscar Wendt fired wide and Hitz had to dive full-stretch to thwart Granit Xhaka from range, but Augsburg almost nicked it in added time when Finnbogason struck the foot of the upright.
Man of the match
Not for the first time this season, Hitz covered himself in glory with some excellent saves at pivotal stages of the game to ensure Augsburg did not walk away empty-handed.
Talking point
Gladbach remain firmly in the mix for the UEFA Champions League places, but their away form will be a concern for head coach Andre Schubert. The Foals are winless in their last five on the road and have won only three times on their travels in the Bundesliga all season.
Match stats
- Raffael has posted double figures in all three of his seasons as a Gladbach player. The Brazilian is the only Bundesliga player so far this season to have reached double figures for both goals and assists (both ten).Finnbogason’s maiden Bundesliga goal was the first by an Icelandic national in the Bundesliga since May 2011 (Gylfi Sigurdsson).Caiuby has scored one goal more after 23 matches (three) than he managed in the entire 2014/15 campaign.
Line-ups
Augsburg: Hitz - Verhaegh (c), Gouweleeuw, Klavan, Max - Kohr - Moravek (Koo 46’) (Janker 78’) - Bobadilla (Esswein 83’), Halil Altintop, Caiuby - Finnbogason
Gladbach: Sommer - Elvedi, Christensen, Nordtveit, Wendt - Dahoud (Hinteregger 64'), Xhaka (c) - Traore (Herrmann 68’), Johnson - Hazard (Brouwers 86’), Raffael
