2-2 at Augsburg – Werkself secure late point

Bayer 04 earned a 2-2 draw at FC Augsburg on Bundesliga Matchday 3 with a late equaliser. The Werkself led at half-time through Christian Kofane's strike but the hosts, who went in the game as league leaders, turned it around with a quickfire double from Michael Gregoritsch after the break. The Black-and-Reds didn't give up, though, and salvaged a point thanks to substitute Patrik Schick's flick in the 89th minute.

Head coach Carles Martínez made two changes from the 4-0 win at home to Union Berlin, with Moussa Diaby replacing Malik Tillman in attacking midfield for his second full debut, and Christian Kofane starting up front in place of Patrik Schick.

Kofane with stylish opener

The meeting with the league leaders, who scored seven goals across the first two matchdays, began evenly with attacking incidents at both ends. Ibrahim Maza had the first attempt on nine minutes, before Afonso Moreira warmed the gloves of goalkeeper Finn Dahmen (15'). The Werkself were on top and got their reward in the 18th minute, when Kofane brought down a long ball, dribbled past his opponent and finished coolly. The goalmouth action died down after that, but the hardness of the tackles remained. The game became rather stop-start as a result and so Leverkusen went in at half-time with a narrow but deserved lead.

Jarell Quansah gegen Augsburg Arijon Ibrahimovic

Moussa Diaby im Duell mit seinem Gegenmann

Mark Flekken positioniert sich im Duell mit Augsburg

Edmond Tapsoba treibt den Ball nach vorne

Ezequiel Fernández und Ibrahim Maza gegen Marius Wolf

FCA fight back - Schick equalises late

The second half started with an early setback from a Bayer 04 point of view, with Michael Gregoritsch firing through the legs of Mark Flekken to make it 1-1 in the 50th minute. Augsburg were in the ascendancy now and completed the turnaround five minutes later: Gregoritsch was unmarked at the far post from a corner and headed the hosts in front. Another five minutes later, Maza found the net at the other end but referee Daniel Siebert disallowed the goal for a foul in the build-up following a video review. It was a frantic period of play, in which Martínez brought on debutant Guéla Doué and goal-getter Patrik Schick.

Miguel Gutiérrez mit dem Ball in Augsburg

Schiedsrichter Daniel Siebert am Monitor

Afonso Moreira peitscht seine Teamkollegen an

The Werkself kept plugging away and kept shooting, but it wouldn't initially fall for them. Schick's effort on 75 minutes was blocked, like many others - the Black-and-Reds registered a total of 25 attempts. They looked to be heading for a defeat until Schick netted Leverkusen's second goal with a flick in the 89th minute, and despite trying to find a winner in stoppage time, it finished 2-2.

coming up: pair of home games before international break

Bayer 04 are back in action on home soil twice in the coming week. First they begin their Europa League campaign with the home game against Slovenian side NK Celje on Wednesday 16 September (kick-off 21:00 CEST), before welcoming RB Leipzig to the BayArena on Sunday 20 September (15:30 CEST).

Match stats:

Augsburg: Dahmen - Banks, Matsima, Brackelmann - Wolf (Kömür 77'), Massengo (Keitel 85'), Rieder, Behrens - Ibrahimovic (Claude-Maurice 58'), Fellhauer (Seol 77') - Gregoritsch (Ribeiro 85')

Bayer 04: Flekken - Quansah (Doué 63'), Tapsoba, Medina (Vázquez 85'), Gutiérrez - Fernández (Tillman 76'), Garcia - Diaby, Maza, Moreira (Terrier 76') - Kofane (Schick 63')

Goals: 0-1 Kofane (18'), 1-1 Gregoritsch (50'), 2-1 Gregoritsch (55'), 2-2 Schick (89')

Yellow cards: Banks, Baum (head coach) / Doué, Martínez (head coach)

Referee: Daniel Siebert

Attendance: 29,745 at the WWK Arena