Augsburg secure away win

Augsburg won their away game in Darmstadt 2-1. Darmstadt took the lead at the beginning of the second-half through Marcel Heller (48'). However, captain Paul Verhaegh (55‘) and Raúl Bobadilla (85‘) turned the game around for Augsburg. Augsburg head coach Manuel Baum brought five new players into his starting eleven from the 3-1 defeat to Leverkusen last week. Konstantinos Stafylidis, Gojko Kacar, Jan Moravek, Halil Altintop and Dong-Won Ji started in place of Philipp Max, Christoph Janker, Daniel Baier, Georg Teigl and Takashi Usami. It was an especially important game for Halil Altintop, as he was playing against his brother Halil, who has been at Darmstadt for seven years. Augsburg started the game cautiously and allowed the home side to come onto them. However, neither side really threatened the other's goal. Both defences were solid and determined not to allow anything through. The game lacked tempo and was predominantly played in midfield. The first meaningful action of the game came in the 32nd minute. After a well worked attack Halil Altintop fed Raúl Bobadilla inside the Lilies' penalty area. However, Michael Esser in goal for the home side quickly snatched the ball from the Argentine. Bobadilla had a go from 30 yards shortly before half-time, but the shot flew high over the bar. After an uneventful firt-half, the players went back to the dressing rooms with the score at 0-0. Darmstadt improved after the break, more so than Augsburg. The first shot on goal from the Lilies shortly after the restart from Marcel Heller found the back of the Augsburg net. However, there was a quick response from the Swabians. In the 54th minute, Alexander Milosevic fouled Dominik Kohr inside the box and the visitors had the chance to equalise from the penalty spot. Augsburg captain Paul Verhaegh rifled the ball into the top-right corner of the net and, in doing so, recorded his first goal of the season. The game became more intense from this moment on. Both teams showed ambition in attack and there were several goalscoring opportunities. In the 72nd minute, Bobadilla layed the ball off for Altintop to fire a shot which Esser parried. At the other end, Darmstadt had a chance through Terrence Boyd. In the 77th minute substitute Moritz Leitner had a shot which was deflected over the bar by the Darmstadt defence. Five minutes from the end, Boyd tested Marwin Hitz in the Augsburg goal from 15 metres, but the keeper had no trouble saving the American's shot. A chip from Bobadilla over the onrushing Esser in the final minutes of the match decided the game in Augsburg's favour.