Augsburg boost survival hopes with victory away to Eintracht Frankfurt
Marco Richter scored twice as Augsburg came from behind to beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1 on Sunday, giving new coach Martin Schmidt a winning start as the Bavarians moved seven points clear of the relegation zone.
Eintracht Frankfurt 1-3 Augsburg
Goals: 1-0 Paciencia (14'), 1-1 Richter (31'), 1-2 Richter (45+4'), 1-3 Gregoritsch (84')
Sent off: Fernandes (47')
Frankfurt may have had a draining UEFA Europa League trip to Portugal during the week but they showed no signs of fatigue early on as they took the game to Augsburg. Luka Jovic had a couple of chances before the Eagles finally took the lead when Goncalo Paciencia headed in Filip Kostic's left-wing cross. However, the hosts were stunned when Marco Richter equalised against the run of play, and the Augsburg midfielder doubled his tally for the afternoon with a superb left-footed effort drilled low past Kevin Trapp.
Matters went from bad to worse for Frankfurt early in the second half when captain Gelson Fernandes was sent off for a second bookable offence. Augsburg inevitably had the upper hand after that and would have extended their lead but for Makoto Hasebe clearing Ja-Cheol Koo's header off the line. Richter and Hahn squandered further chances and for a while it looked like Frankfurt might level the scores, with Rani Khedira making two last-ditch blocks to deny Ante Rebic and Jovic, but Michael Gregoritsch made sure of the points late on with a superb curling shot from the edge of the box.
Match stats
- Paciencia's goal was his third in the Bundesliga, all of which have been headers.
- Frankfurt have scored more headers this season (10) than in the last two campaigns combined (four in each).
- Richter scored his first ever Bundesliga brace.
- Richter now has three Bundesliga goals. His first was also scored against Frankfurt (in February 2018).
- Martin Hinteregger made 79 Bundesliga appearances for Augsburg prior to his January loan move to Frankfurt.
- The was Frankfurt's first home defeat in 2019 (previously (W4, D2), and Augsburg's first away win in 10 games.
Line-ups
Frankfurt: Trapp - Hinteregger (Ndicka 26'), Hasebe, Toure - Da Costa, Rode (De Guzman 66'), Fernandes, Kostic - Rebic - Paciencia (Gacinovic 54'), Jovic
Unused subs: Rönnow, Willems, Torro, Abraham
Out: Haller (abdominal strain), Tawatha (ankle), Chandler (knee), Russ (Achilles)
Coach: Adi Hütter
Augsburg: Kobel (Luthe 40') - Schmid, Gouweleeuw, Khedira, Stafylidis - Baier (c) - Hahn, Koo (Janker 90+2'), Gregoritsch, Richter – Finnbogason (Schieber 83')
Unused subs: Oxford, Asta, Teigl, Danso
Out: Framberger (knee), Giefer (ankle), Götze (unspecified), Cordoba (knock), Moravek (muscular), Max, Ji (both unspecified)
Coach: Manuel Baum
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