Augsburg vs. Nürnberg: Final score 1-2, Esswein's free kick the difference

On Friday evening, Nürnberg edged Augsburg 2-1 in the second Bavarian Derby of the season between the two sides.

Augsburg came out looking to add to the twelve points they've acquired since returning from the winter break, but they found it difficult against an organized Nürnberg defense. Der Club weren't venturing out early, but they turned one of their first attacks into a lead. Tomas Pekhart played Alexander Esswein in through the Augsburg defense, and the forward dropped the ball back to Hiroshi Kiyotake. The Japanese midfielder smacked his shot past Mohamed Amsif for the early 1-0 advantage.

The hosts weren't going to be denied on the day and kept pushing on despite the deficit. The equalizer came fifteen minutes later on a horrific goalkeeping error from Raphael Schäfer. Andre Hahn whipped in a cross to Tobias Werner. The header was easily saved. However, Schäfer dropped the ball, and it rolled between his legs into the net before he could knock the ball out of the net.

Esswein grabbed the winner for Nürnberg in the 54th minute when his free kick caught Amsif leaning the wrong direction and beat the goalkeeper. The kick was set up when Kiyotake earned another free kick on top of the box.

The three points take Nürnberg ten clear of Augsburg in the table. Augsburg still occupy the 16th place in the table for the promotion/relegation playoff place. If results go against them this weekend, Augsburg could find themselves nine points from safety.

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