Augsburg match Leipzig in 2-2 draw
March 3, 2017
Augsburg 2-2 Leipzig
(Stafylidis 19', Hinteregger 60' - Werner 25', Compper 52')
Augsburg may have dealt Leipzig another crucial blow in the title race after playing the Bundesliga newcomers to an exciting 2-2 draw in WWK Arena on Friday.
Defenders did the trick for Augsburg, Konstantinos Stafylidis and Martin Hinteregger providing the scoring as the home side moved further away from the relegation zone. Timo Werner collected his 14th goal of the season for Leipzig, matching his career mark with Stuttgart in just 23 appearances with the Red Bulls.
The draw leaves Leipzig four points behind Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich in second place. The defending champions could increase the gap on Leipzig to seven points should the top Cologne on Saturday. Augsburg meanwhile moved into 12th place temporarily above Schalke, who play Gladbach Saturday evening.
Superb strike from Stafylidis
The game got off to a sluggish start, but Stafylidis injected energy to the contest when he scored the opening goal. The Greek international controlled a poor clearance from Leipzig's Naby Keita, and dribbled around Diego Demme before firing a shot from way outside the penalty area to give Augsburg the early 1-0 lead.
Keita made up for his turnover six minutes later by threading a through ball to Werner, who snuck in a shot off the post for the equalizer. Marvin Compper gave Leipzig the lead shortly after halftime, beating Augsburg's Dominik Kohr in the air on a corner from Emil Forsberg and heading in his second goal of the season.
Hinteregger gets one for Salzburg
After turning down a move to Leipzig from Red Bull Salzburg before the season, Hinteregger has been one of Leipzig's biggest critics this season. "The manner in which Leipzig is destroying Salzburg is disappointing," he had told German newspaper Bild after joining Augsburg in September of 2016.
But he did his former club proud on Friday, scoring the equalizer for Augsburg that gave them a very valuable point at home. The Austrian defender galloped down the field on a break before receiving a pass from Koo Ja-Cheol and finishing past Peter Gulasci in Leipzig's goal.
Hinteregger played down the "revenge angle" after the game. "We played well and that is what was great," he told Sky Sport in Germany after the game.