The attack versus defence pattern of this game was set early on, with Luis Diaz, Lennart Karl, and Michael Olise all getting at the Augsburg back line.
To the visitors’ credit, however, their 5-4-1 formation kept the Bavarians at bay despite the hosts’ 74% possession at the halfway point of the first half, and a constant attacking onslaught.
The opener, when it eventually arrived in the 23rd minute, was simplicity itself. Olise bent in a corner, and Hiroki Ito towered above Cedric Zeisner to head home.
As half-time approached, the visitors even managed to get up the pitch themselves, and were Han-Noah Massengo’s aim a little truer, or had Robin Fellhauer not hit the bar with the last kick of the half, they could’ve been on level terms before the break.
Anton Kade wasn’t alert enough to make the most of Jonas Urbig’s early second-half mistake, and two more half-chances for the visitors had Vincent Kompany raging on the touchline.
As the hour mark approached, the league leaders had been hugely underwhelming in terms of their chance creation and attacking play against a team with just four wins and 20 goals to their name all season.
Elvis Rexhbecaj then missed a sitter after Bayern’s Karl trod on the ball in his own area, and the visitors looked the most likely to score with 25 minutes to play.
Rexhbecaj and Alexis Claude-Maurice fired off shots on target as Augsburg continued to threaten, and the latter then extended Urbig from a free-kick.
From the resulting corner, Urbig got nowhere near the ball, and it bounced in off the back of Arthur Chaves’ head.
Remarkably, despite having six defenders in the box, no Bayern player picked up Massengo’s late run in the 80th minute, and he slotted home to silence the home support.
Still, Augsburg attacked, despite Bayern also committing men forward, but it was too little, too late for Kompany’s side. The result won’t immediately affect the Bavarians, who remain 12 points ahead of the chasing pack, whilst Augsburg have moved six points clear of the relegation places with this victory.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Han-Noah Massengo (Augsburg)
