Alfred Finnbogason roared into the record books with a hat-trick on his return from injury as Augsburg beat Freiburg 4-1 on Sunday. Caiuby was also on target at the WWK Arena as Die Fuggerstädter leapt from 14th to eighth.

Augsburg 4-1 Freiburg

Goals: 1-0 Caiuby (19’), 2-0 Finnbogason (34’), 2-1 Schmid (o.g. 49’), 3-1 Finnbogason (pen. 68’), 4-1 Finnbogason (83’)

Buoyed by the return of Iceland striker Finnbogason - who was making his first start in five months following calf and knee injuries - Augsburg started on the front foot and nearly took the lead when Marco Richter found himself one-on-one with Alexander Schwolow, but the Freiburg shot-stopper reacted well to turn the young forward’s effort out for a corner. The deadlock was broken soon after, though, with Richter turning provider for Caiuby, who rose highest at the back post to power home his first goal of the season. The home fans didn’t have to wait long for a second. Jeffrey Gouweleeuw found himself in unchartered territory – the opposition box – before sending a pinpoint cross in for Finnbogason, who deceived Schwolow with a fine back-heel.

Freiburg coach Christian Streich sent Jerome Gondorf and Luca Waldschmidt on for the second half and the changes made a near-instant impact. Waldschmidt thumped an effort towards Andreas Luthe’s goal, the keeper punched, and in the ensuing stramash the ball ended up over the line after Martin Hinteregger’s clearance ricocheted off Jonathan Schmid. Freiburg should perhaps have restored parity when Florian Niederlechner broke clear, but he over-hit his cross for Roland Sallai, who had an open goal ahead. Michael Gregoritsch came close to the goal of the game at the other end on the hour mark but his shot from the edge of the box flashed narrowly over following a smart one-two with Finnbogason. Augsburg put the game beyond doubt soon after, however, Finnbogason stepping up to convert a penalty he had earned from Dominique Heintz moments before. The Icelander then rounded out the scoring with a tap-in late on, finishing the game as Augburg’s record scorer in the Bundesliga to boot.

Match stats

Finnbogason is now Augsburg’s record scorer in the German top-flight with 25 goals, overtaking Tobias Werner.The striker plundered 13 goals before his campaign was curtailed by a knee ligament injury last season. He nonetheless made Iceland’s FIFA World Cup squad, starting all three of their group games in Russia this summer.Finnbogason’s scored in the Bundesliga for the first time since April, when he struck in a 2-0 win over Mainz.  Caiuby hadn’t scored since January’s 1-1 draw with Cologne.Augsburg scored a club record 12 headers last season. Caiuby’s opener was already their third this term.Freiburg’s Nils Petersen was the top-scoring German in the Bundesliga last season with 15 goals. This was the first game he has missed since Matchday 4 of the 2017/18 campaign.In 27 competitive fixtures (13 in the Bundesliga) between Augsburg and Freiburg, there has never been a goalless draw.

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Line-ups

Augsburg: Luthe - Schmid, Gouweleeuw, Hinteregger, Max - Khedira, Baier (c) (Götze 85’)– Richer (Hahn 75’), Gregoritsch (Koo 70’), Caiuby – Finnbogason
Unused subs: Flekken, Höler, Kammerbauer, Kath
Absentees: Schieber (loose joint), Jakob (knee), Jensen, Ji (both ankle)
Coach: Manuel Baum

Freiburg: Schwolow – Lienhart (Gondorf 46’), Gulde, Heintz, Günter – Frantz (c), Koch, Höfler, Sallai – Terrazzino (Waldschmidt 46’), Niederlechner (Kleindienst 76’)
Unused subs: Flekken, Höler, Kammerbauer, Kath
Absentees: Stanko (knee), Borrello, Abrashi (both cruciate ligament), Petersen (unknown)
Coach: Christian Streich

Watch: Finnbogason "just happy to be back!"

As it happened

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