On the hottest day of the year so far in North-Rhine Westphalia, neither side were able to play the brand of football that has distinguished them this season, resulting in a subdued performance and a result that saw both teams leave with what they wanted.
With Schalke beating Hertha Berlin 4-0, Gladbach are now certain of fourth place, while that same result means the Bavarians can no longer drop into the bottom three when they host Hamburg this weekend.
Dawda Bah’s Augsburg started with plenty of energy, but the first chance of the game fell at the other end where Marco Reus was denied by Simon Jentzsch. Reus wanted a penalty when the ball struck the arm of Axel Bellinghausen inside the area in the 18th minute, but the referee ignored his appeal.
Mike Hanke then missed the best chance of the first half when he failed to make the best of Filip Daems’s cross and the ball rolled the wrong side of the goal. Tiredness started to take its toll early in the second half with both sides beginning to settle for the draw.
The best chance for the home side again fell to Reus, but Jentzsch was not going to be beaten with his distance shot in the 86th minute. Jentzsch kept both Reus and Roman Neustadter at bay late on as Augsburg held on to the point which secured them a place in the Bundesliga for a second season running.
Bah’s German Bundesliga league season came to an end after just 13 minutes on the pitch, which required him to go for a second operation on his left knee that kept him out for the rest of the season but he will be hoping to come back stronger and help his promoted team, who will be playing Bundesliga football next season, to secure a place in next year’s Europa League, UEFA Champions league, or eventually turn out to be winners of the league. westcoast.gm
