Stafylidis strikes as Augsburg held to 1-1 draw by Freiburg

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Konstantinos Stafylidis’ first-half equaliser earned Augsburg a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Freiburg at the WWK Arena.

Augsburg 1-1 Freiburg

Goals: 0-1 Niederlechner (p., 30') 1-1 Stafylidis (39')

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Christian Streich’s side went into the game looking to close the gap on the European places, and they took the lead when Augsburg goalkeeper Marwin Hitz felled Mike Frantz inside the penalty area, allowing Florian Niederlechner to fire home his eighth goal of the season from the ensuing spot-kick. Manuel Baum’s side responded well, however, and deservedly restored parity when Stafylidis headed Georg Teigl’s looping cross into the bottom corner.

- © gettyimages / Adam Pretty

Stafylidis and Maximilian Philipp traded long-range drives after the interval, before Moritz Leitner somehow headed Raul Bobadilla’s inswinging cross wide of Alexander Schwolow’s left-hand post. Augsburg pushed for a winner late on but were made to settle for a point that does little to ease Die Fuggerstädter’s relegation fears.

Talking point

Freiburg remain on the cusp of the European spots, but Augsburg are one of four teams hovering precariously above the relegation play-off position on 29 points. With away games against league leaders Bayern Munich and high-flying Hertha Berlin on the horizon, Baum will be targeting three points at home to Ingolstadt on Matchday 27.

Match stats

    Augsburg fielded their youngest starting line-up since March 2013 on Matchday 25 (25.1 years).Seven of Niederlechner's eight Bundesliga goals this season have come away from home.Eighteen-year-old Kevin Danso won 73 percent of his challenges at the WWK Arena.

Line-ups

Augsburg: Hitz (c) - Moravek, Gouweleeuw (Kacar 28'), Hinteregger, Teigl - Leitner, Kohr - Moravek (Bobadilla 63'), Danso (Rieder 73'), Koo - Ji

Coach: Manuel Baum

Freiburg: Schwolow - Kübler (Ignjovski 46'), Guide, Kempf, Günter - Schuster, Höfler (Abrashi 37') - Frantz (c), Philipp (Petersen 87') - Haberer, Niederlechner

Coach: Christian Streich

Watch: Freiburg coach Streich talks about reaching 200 games in charge of the club:

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