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Soccer

Augsburg crush Hamburg, Hoffenheim edge Frankfurt

Rob Turner
April 30, 2017

Augsburg left the relegation playoff spot with a 4-0 win over Hamburg, who replace them in the danger zone. Hoffenheim returned to third place in the table with a last-minute win over Frankfurt.

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Fußball Bundesliga Hamburger SV - FC Augsburg
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/L. Preiss

Augsburg 4-0 Hamburg

In the big game at the bottom of the Bundesliga, Augsburg utterly dominated the opening stages. After creating several chances, they got their reward on the half-hour mark when Halil Altintop slotted home after good work by Jonathan Schmid. It remained one-way traffic and Altintop and the home side doubled their tally just before the break. Philipp Max burst clear down the right and his cross-cum-shot gifted Altintop a tap-in at the far post.

Read: Top five talking points from Matchday 31

Fußball Bundesliga Hamburger SV - FC Augsburg
Hamburg were well and truly beaten and return to the drop zoneImage: Imago

Hamburg struggled to gain a foothold and the scoreline could have been much worse had it not been for keeper Tom Mickel. Usually third-choice, Mickel made a string of important saves on only his second Bundesliga appearance. Augsburg kept up the pressure in the second half and with quarter of an hour remaining, Philipp Max wrapped up the three points with his first Bundesliga goal. On as a substitute, Raul Bobadilla put the icing on the cake with the fourth goal late on.

It was Augsburg's biggest win in Bundesliga history and means they leapfrog Hamburg in the table to leave the battle to beat the drop wide open.

Vote: Who is your Player of the Season?

Hoffenheim 1-0 Frankfurt

Hoffenheim went into the game knowing victory would take them back above Borussia Dortmund and into third place in the table. The home side enjoyed the lion’s share of possession in the first half, but often struggled to find a way through a well-organized  Frankfurt defense. Nadiem Amiri came closest to opening the scoring, hitting the post from five yards out.

Eintracht Frankfurt reached the final of the German Cup midweek, but were still hopeful of qualifying for Europe through the league as well. And the visitors thought they had taken the lead shortly after the break, but David Abraham was ruled offside when he prodded home Marco Fabian’s cross.

Fußball Bundesliga 1899 Hoffenheim - Eintracht Frankfurt
Marco Fabian (left) does battle with Hoffenheim's Niklas SüleImage: Imago/J. Huebner

Click here to relive all the action of Sunday's games as it happened

Chances were few and far between thereafter in a match that was low on highlights. But with just over a minute remaining, Hoffenheim grabbed all three points in dramatic style. Benjamin Hübner rose highest to head home a Sebastian Rudy corner to secure the win that guarantees Champions League football for Hoffenheim next season. The only matter to be resolved is whether they go straight to the group stage or have to go through qualifying. All may be revealed next week, when Hoffenheim travel to direct rivals Dortmund.