Goals from captain Paul Verhaegh and Halil Altintop led Augsburg to a massive win over Freiburg, putting them into the top half of the Bundesliga table.
Augsburg were keen to bounce back from a lacklustre display against Mainz, so having goal-scorer Tobias Werner unavailable was an early blow. He was replaced by Alexander Esswein, with Tim Matavz and Abdul Rahman Baba taking the places of Nikola Djurdjic and Marcel de Jong respectively. Freiburg were keen for a similar reaction, as they were defeated at home to Wolfsburg by the same scoreline. Christian Streich only made two alterations to that side; Mensur Mujdza and Mike Frantz would play no part as Christian Günter and Felix Klaus took their places.
After an even beginning to proceedings, a moment of madness saw Pavel Krmas inexplicably haul Ragnar Klavan to the floor. Marco Fritz had no hesitation in point to the spot and Augsburg's trusty spot-kick taker was on hand to slot it home. Paul Verhaegh stepped up with confidence, sent Roman Bürki the wrong way and the hosts had the lead. Immediately aiming to build on it, Raul Bobadilla's long ranger and Alexander Esswein's volley were simple for the Swiss stopper.
Bürki was called into action to deny Daniel Baier with an excellent, point-blank, reflex save and then from Tim Matavz' effort to his near post. Esswein was a constant threat all afternoon and when his shot flew towards goal and rippled the net; many felt it was in, but the only net it made contact with was at the side of the goal.
Freiburg came into the game more and more as the half wore on and began to create more chances. Jonathan Schmid had two great set-piece openings; the first was sent wide, but a deflection on the second had Marwin Hitz scrambling and there was a hint of handball to boot. Vladimir Darida's drive, deflected yet again, forced Hitz into another solid save, but there was little or no threat inside the home team's box.
The second half started promisingly for Augsburg, who were continuing to enjoy the best of the possession. Two brilliant blocks from Marc Torrejon and Krmas kept Freiburg in with a shout, though it looked like it was only a matter of time until they went a further goal behind. Freiburg had begun to look more dangerous, with Admir Mehmedi and co. working their way into the final third with more purpose.
However, even with the game very evenly poised, Augsburg would kill the game with 25 minutes to go. Alexander Esswein drove down the left-hand side and fired the ball across to Halil Altintop; the Turk took a touch to kill the ball and then fired it goal-ward. Bürki had been keeping Freiburg in the game for periods, but an unfortunate deflection left him powerless to keep the shot out.
Further chances fell the way of Raul Bobadilla, Baba and Altintop as the game drew to a close, but neither could force home the goal that would have certainly sealed the win. However, Freiburg provided no real threat for the remainder and Augsburg sealed a valuable win. The three points boosts the Bavarians into ninth, level with three other teams. SCF sit in 17th as pressure begins to mount on the boys from Breisgau.