Gregoritsch at the double as Augsburg keep European hopes alive

Gregoritsch at the double as Augsburg keep European hopes alive

Goals from Gregoritsch (2) and Robin Fellhauer sealed a vital three points for Augsburg, who outclassed a flat Gladbach side that never truly found their rhythm throughout the contest despite Rocco Reitz late consolation.

Playing their final home match of the season, Augsburg began brightly and looked determined to reward the WWK-Arena crowd while maintaining pressure in the race for Europe.

Their breakthrough arrived after 24 minutes and it came through the ever-reliable Gregoritsch. A clever through ball down the left released substitute Robin Fellhauer, who showed excellent composure to square the ball across goal instead of shooting himself, leaving Gregoritsch with the simple task of tapping into an empty net for 1-0.

Augsburg thought they had doubled their advantage just four minutes later when Gregoritsch found the net again, but VAR intervened to rule the goal out for a marginal offside decision against the striker.

The hosts would not have to wait long for a second goal, however. Augsburg struck again three minutes before the break, and this time VAR had no reason to intervene. Fellhauer was heavily involved once more as Mert Kömür picked up possession high up the pitch before feeding the overlapping wing-back, who kept his composure brilliantly to slot beyond Moritz Nicolas and make it 2-0 heading into half-time.

It capped a miserable opening 45 minutes for Gladbach, who struggled to create any momentum and were second best across the pitch.

Aside from a nervy moment early in the second half when Fellhauer nearly diverted a Wael Mohya cross into his own net, Gladbach offered little attacking threat. Augsburg remained in complete control, and by the hour mark the visitors had managed just a single shot on target compared to the hosts’ eight.