Football Kramaric and Weghorst meet
Hoffenheim’s double strike ends Augsburg’s series
Status: 07.04.2024 | Reading time: 3 minutes
Augsburg, who were so strong in the second half of the season, lost another game after five games. The defeat at TSG Hoffenheim is a bitter setback for Augsburg in the race for the European Cup places. And: Gladbach turns the game in Wolfsburg.
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim has put a damper on FC Augsburg in the fight for a European Cup place. Coach Pellegrino Matarazzo’s team defeated their direct rivals 3:1 (2:0). This also ended a series of five unbeaten games for the guests. Wout Weghorst (17th minute) with his sixth goal and Andrej Kramaric (20th) with his ninth goal of the season gave Hoffenheim an early cushion.
Ermedin Demirovic (61st) made things exciting again for FCA with his 15th goal in this round. Coach Jess Thorup’s team then chased after the deficit in vain. Joker Ihlas Bebou (90th) then made everything clear. Augsburg, Hoffenheim and SC Freiburg are now 36 points each behind sixth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt (42).
Hoffenheim celebrates a deserved win against Augsburg
Source: Getty Images/Alexander Hassenstein
Augsburg started the game again with captain Demirovic after serving a yellow card suspension and without the injured Kevin Mbabu, Iago, Fredrik Jensen, Niklas Dorsch and Elvis Rexhbecaj. The guests had only just sorted themselves out when Kristijan Jakic had to leave the field after twelve minutes with ankle problems.
Double strike decides the game
Just a few minutes later, FCA appeared powerless against a lightning counterattack by Hoffenheim: Weghorst initiated it himself and pushed the ball into the net after a cross from Pavel Kaderabek. The next counterattack, when a ball was intercepted by goalkeeper Finn Dahmen, also happened much too quickly for the Fuggerstadt team: Kramaric took the measure from 18 meters and hit the right corner with a shot – 2-0.
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A week after the late defeat at leaders Bayer Leverkusen, TSG confidently played down the first half against the visibly sobered Augsburg team. Goalkeeper Oliver Baumann only had to save once against the agile Ruben Vargas when David Jurasek let the FCA playmaker run (42nd).
The guests played more courageously after the break. A deflected shot from Arne Maier landed on the post (56th) – and then Demirovic scored after a pass from Philip Tietz. Vargas in particular kept pushing his colleagues forward, but the Augsburg team could no longer find the decisive gap.
VfL Wolfsburg – Borussia Monchengladbach 1:3
VfL Wolfsburg is slipping further and further into the bottom of the table in the Bundesliga. At the end of the 28th matchday, Lower Saxony lost 1:3 (1:0) against Borussia Mönchengladbach in the home debut of new coach Ralph Hasenhüttl and are now only five points ahead of FSV Mainz 05 in the relegation zone.
Mainz clearly won 4-0 against Darmstadt on Saturday. In the first game under Hasenhüttl, who succeeded Niko Kovac, Wolfsburg won 2-0 in Bremen.
The Gladbachers, who were also in crisis recently, moved into secure midfield with their second away win of the season and can take a deep breath for now. In front of 26,105 spectators in the Volkswagen Arena, Ridle Baku gave Wolfsburg an early lead (7th minute). Kou Itakura (52′) and Nathan Ngoumou (58′) turned the game around for the guests after the break. Shortly before the end, Rocco Reitz (88th) scored the final score.