Elversberg take incredible win over Augsburg in incident-packed seven-goal thriller
Elversberg's inspired start to the Bundesliga continued with a narrow win over Augsburg in an incredible encounter that saw seven goals, four penalties and no end of action.
Elversberg 4-3 Augsburg
Goals: 1-0 Petkov 4', 2-0 Günther 7' (assist: Krattenmacher), 3-0 Rohr 28' (assist: Keidel), 3-1 Rieder 45'+9 (pen.), 3-2 Gregoritsch 76' (pen.), 4-2 Schmahl 89' (assist: Petkov), 4-3 Kömür 90' (assist: Behrens)Penalties missed: Petkov 4', Futkeu 90+8'
Elversberg flew out of the blocks as a third-minute handball award gave Lukas Petkov a penalty, which Finn Dahmen saved, but Petkov reacted quickest to net the rebound and make it 1-0 in the fourth minute.
Watch: Elversberg's early penalty
Three minutes later Maurice Krattenmacher drove into the box and cut the ball back for Lasse Günther, who swept home his first Bundesliga goal for 2-0.
Augsburg searched for a route back before Felix Keidel's corner found Maximilian Rohr, whose header made it 3-0 in the 28th minute.
Deep into first-half stoppage time, Augsburg were awarded a penalty after Rohr handled the ball, and captain Fabian Rieder converted to make it 3-1 at the break.
Augsburg pushed hard after the restart and were handed a route back into the game when Lukas Pinckert fouled Hennes Behrens in the box. Michael Gregoritsch converted the penalty in the 76th minute to make it 3-2. Substitute Raif Adam thought he had restored a two-goal cushion soon after, but his effort was ruled out for offside following a VAR review.
With the contest still finely poised, Petkov set up Frederik Schmahl to make it 4-2 in the 89th minute, only for Mert Kömür to pull one back for Augsburg seconds later, finishing after a pass from Behrens. Deep into stoppage time, Noel Futkeu saw his penalty cannon off the crossbar, as Elversberg missed a chance for a fifth goal, but held on for a 4-3 win.
Player of the Match: Lukas Petkov
Petkov opened the scoring with the rebound from his own saved penalty, then teed up Schmahl's late strike that proved decisive. He finished with three shots, the most of any Elversberg player, and was voted Player of the Match with 29 percent of the vote.
Bundesliga Match Facts
xGoals: Elversberg 5.05 - Augsburg 4.94
Fastest player: Maurice Krattenmacher (Elversberg), 35.23 km/h
Lowest goal probability: 4-3 by Mert Kömür (Augsburg), 8 percent
Pass efficiency: Finn Dahmen (Augsburg), +2.26
