Augsburg surrender two-goal lead as Frankfurt force draw

Markus Weinzierl continues to work wonders at Augsburg, but his side may live to regret their failure to beat a wasteful Frankfurt on Sunday and claim the three points they wanted to keep the pressure on second-placed Wolfsburg.

The unfancied Bavarians scented their fourth win in a row and a season double over Frankfurt after taking a 2-0 lead in the first half, as Tobias Werner celebrated his 100th Bundesliga appearance for the club.

Frankfurt were again grateful to Alexander Meier however as the big centre forward inspired a comeback which moved his side up one place to ninth in the table, and gave Augsburg their first draw of an unbalanced season.

Augsburg took the lead in the sixth minute when Halil Altintop miscontrolled a weak clearance from the Frankfurt defense and the ball fell kindly for Ragnar Klavan. The Estonian centre back made no mistake, swiveling to fire past Kevin Trapp from six meters.

The goal spurred on the home side, which needed a victory to go third in the table. In the 13th minute Altintop was again involved, squeezing a shot on target after a through ball but finding Trapp equal to the effort.

Augsburg were then forced into an early substitution when injured captain Paul Verhaegh was replaced by Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker. The switch did not upset the Augsburg rhythm, however.

Hojbjerg pulls the strings for Augsburg

A surging run and slide rule pass from on-loan Bayern midfielder Pierre Emile Hojbjerg on 19 minutes set up Tobias Werner, but Trapp was quickly off his line to nullify the threat. Werner was again sent clear five minutes later but he showed too much of the ball to Trapp after miscontrolling badly with his second touch.

On 27 minutes Augsburg won a free-kick and Klavan – who had scored only twice in 60 Bundesliga league matches before Sunday - thought he had turned the ball in for his second of the game, only to be denied by the linesman's flag.

The home side did not have to wait long for their second. On 36 minutes Raul Bobadilla steered home after a Hojbjerg free kick by the right touchline was flicked on by Callsen-Bracker. The Argentine was left with the simplest of finishes after escaping his marker at the back post.

Frankfurt pulled a goal back from a corner on the stroke of half-time when Alexander Meier's firm header was pushed at full stretch by Augsburg goalkeeper Alex Manninger onto the shin of his own defender, Dominik Kohr. The ball fell for Stefan Aigner, who tapped in.

Another probing run from Hojbjerg after the restart released Altintop, but his smart finish found the back of the net only after referee had already blown for offside.

Meier steps up

The Augsburg defense had kept Alexander Meier quiet all game but the Bundesliga's leading scorer was not to be denied his 14th of the season. With 20 minutes remaining Meier collected a through ball to coolly slot home his first goal of 2015.

Frankfurt were rejuvenated and sensed only a third win on the road all season. Aigner fired at the ‘keeper on 72 minutes before South Korea international striker Dong-Jong Wi was muscled off the ball when seemingly setting himself to shoot.

The visitors finished the stronger side but their last chance to snatch a winner came when substitute Lucas Piazon flashed a header over the bar in the dying seconds.