FC Augsburg suffered a heavy defeat in the final fixture of matchday 33 in the Bundesliga, losing 4-0 away to RB Leipzig. The Fuggerstädter had kept the hosts at bay for much of the first half, but didn’t have an answer to the fourth-placed side in the second 45.

Head coach Markus Weinzierl made four changes to the team that was beaten 4-1 by Köln by Köln last week: Felix Uduokhai, Lasse Günther, Mads Pedersen and Florian Niederlechner came in for Iago (bruising), Ruben Vargas (injured in final training) and André Hahn, who had overcome some muscular problems and like Robert Gumny was on the bench.

Augsburg started strongly and quickly sought a route to goal. There were barely ten seconds on the clock when Petér Gulácsi was forced into a first save from Pedersen’s long-range strike, and Daniel Caligiuri could only find the side netting from a tight angle soon after (2’). At the other end, André Silva headed straight into Rafał Gikiewicz’s arms from a promising position (6’).

The energetic opening stages from FCA couldn’t be replicated deeper into the half, however. Leipzig took over control of the game, albeit without finding too many gaps against a still resolute Augsburg defence. Weinzierl’s men were limiting RBL’s threat, but couldn’t gain any respite on the ball. They had almost made it to half time with the deadlock still intact, but Leipzig struck out of nowhere. A ball wasn’t cleared far enough and Silva was able to fire a powerful shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the box (40’).

Nkunku at the double, Forsberg from the spot

FCA were then caught cold at the start of the second 45. Nordi Mukiele played a quick one-two with Emil Forsberg to get in behind, and his square ball left a gaping net for Christopher Nkunku to double the hosts’ lead (48’). Things went from bad to worse just before the hour mark as again Mukiele spotted Nkunku, who dummied his way past Gikiewicz and slotted home to make it 3-0 (57’).

Despite making a fine save to keep out Silva (61’), the Augsburg goalkeeper had to pick the ball out of his net for a fourth time soon after. Pedersen caught Mukiele’s heel during a set piece and a penalty was awarded. Forsberg stepped up and converted to make it 4-0 (64‘). The margin could have been a lot higher by the end, with Yussuf Poulsen (72’) and Benjamin Henrichs (83’) both kept out by Gikiewicz, while Marcel Halstenberg (75’) and Mukiele (79’) narrowly missed the target.

FCA’s top-flight status was already secured ahead of kick-off after VfB Stuttgart had drawn 2-2 with Bayern Munich. The final matchday of the season will see Augsburg return home one more time to play SpVgg Greuther Fürth on Saturday, 14th May at 15:30 CEST.

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