BVB Buzz
Fansided

Report: Dortmund stay top after hard fought win against Augsburg

By Oliver Campo

AUGSBURG, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 30: Andrey Yarmolenko of Borussia Dortmund cheers after scoring his team's 1th goal during the Bundesliga match between FC Augsburg and Borussia Dortmund at WWK-Arena on September 30, 2017 in Augsburg, Germany. (Photo by Alexandre Simoes/Borussia Dortmund/Getty Images)
AUGSBURG, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 30: Andrey Yarmolenko of Borussia Dortmund cheers after scoring his team's 1th goal during the Bundesliga match between FC Augsburg and Borussia Dortmund at WWK-Arena on September 30, 2017 in Augsburg, Germany. (Photo by Alexandre Simoes/Borussia Dortmund/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Borussia Dortmund maintained their unbeaten start to the Bundesliga with a well earned 2-1 victory against in-form Augsburg.

Dortmund did not have it all their way, unlike other league games so far this season. But in the end the Black and Yellows got all three points to extend their lead at the top to five points

First Half

Borussia Dortmund got the game off to a perfect start. With only 4 minutes gone, Andriy Yarmolenko gave them the lead with a clever back-heel following a Christian Pulisic corner. It was the Ukrainian international’s first league goal for Dortmund.

Dortmund’s high-line was in effect yet again against their less established opponents. Five minutes later Yarmelonko had a shot on target, but it was from too far out and easily stopped by Hitz.

After Andriy Yarmolenko scored his first goal in the Bundesliga today
Andriy Yarmolenko scored his first league goal for BVB (CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP/Getty Images) /

Just a minute later, Caiuby punished Dortmund’s sloppy defending with a powerful header to level the scores. There was far too much space for Caiuby in the middle. Bartra had left his man to double team with Sokratis and it was poor defending all around.

Peter Bosz’ side took the lead once again in the 23rd minute when Shinji Kagawa rolled back the years with a lovely first-time chip from the edge of the box. It was caused by a major defensive mistake for Augsburg by Max and Hinteregger. 1-2 in favor of BVB. With the goal, Shinji Kagawa became the highest scoring Japanese player in the Bundesliga with 38 goals to his name.

Augsburg had another opportunity to counter at the half-hour mark but it failed to amount to anything. Dortmund got the ball back quickly and Aubameyang was wide open down the middle of the pitch. However his shot was easily saved by the Augsburg goalkeeper.

The match was fairly back and forth for the remainder of the half. The half came to an end when Kawaga received a pass from Pulisic, but his shot was far too high.

Second Half

In the 47th minute of the match, off a rare loss of possession from Weigl led to an Augsburg counter attacker. Sokratis was forced to make a powerful header to clear the ball from danger. Augsburg started to dominate proceedings and Peter Bosz’ side spent very little time attacking in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Augsburg consistently tested Burki but the Swiss goalkeeper was determined not to concede again.

More from BVB Buzz

In the 56th minute, Dahoud was taken off for Castro. Following the substitution, Burki stopped a powerful header from Caiuby. The Brazilian was then shown a yellow card for a tackle on Yarmolenko in the 61st minute. The challenge came to be the last bit of action for Yarmolenko as Philipp came on to replace him. As Augsburg continued to threaten, Dortmund continued to thwart them.

Der BVB were given a free kick for a foul on Toljan which was stopped by Hitz in the 75th minute. The ball was pulled back based on VAR and a penalty was awarded to Dortmund for a foul on Piszczek. Ja-Cheol Koo was given a yellow card for his challenge. From the resulting penalty, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang tried to chip the goalkeeper but his panenka attempt was easily stopped by Hitz.

With 10 minutes to go, Peter Bosz decided to shut up shop and bring on Toprak for Kagawa. Following that substitution, Dortmund and Augsburg had an intense match that saw both sides making attempts to get the deciding goal. Dortmund held strong going into the 86th minute when Caiuby was stopped by Burki yet again.

Dortmund celebrate their away win with fans.
Borussia Dortmund hung on for a crucial win in the end against Augsburg (Photo by Sebastian Widmann/Bundesliga/DFL via Getty Images ) /

Five minutes were added on at the end of the game and Augsburg continued to push for an equaliser. They came close but failed to test Burki as the away side hung on for a crucial win.

The result meant that Dortmund will be staying on top of the Bundesliga regardless of matches still to be played on Sunday. They now have two weeks off as the players head into the international break, after which they will be taking on RB Leipzig at home.

Home/Borussia Dortmund News