FC Augsburg were dominant over a Stuttgart side that failed to get going on Saturday afternoon, as they claimed an impressive 4-0 away win.
Stuttgart steamrolled
After delays in getting into the stadium, it seemed destined that the day wouldn't end well for Stuttgart. A 15 minute delay in getting into the ground did nothing but prolong the pain, as Alexander Esswein opened the scoring early on. A wonderful ball through from Daniel Baier picked out the attacker and he ran through on goal, finishing calmly past Odisseas Vlachodimos.
One became two not long after, as Augsburg took Stuttgart apart; the bottom-dwellers were looking more like the side from last season. A corner kick was punched clear by Vlachodimos, but only as far as Esswein. He volleyed the ball back towards goal, only to see it deflect off the unfortunate Timo Baumgartl and wrong foot his goalkeeper.
Daniel Didavi's volley offered some resistance, but Raul Bobadilla missed two chances in quick succession as the visitors pushed for a third. They got it before the break, too. A corner was swung in towards the near post and Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker bulleted the ball inside the upright from just a few yards out.
A similar story in the second half
It didn't take long for Augsburg to pick up where they left off. Just ten minutes into the second half, any remaining interest in the game was lost as Ja-Cheol Koo notched up their fourth goal. Bobadilla broke through the Stuttgart midfield and played a perfectly weighted pass into the path of Koo, who finished with aplomb. Much like the game against Bayern, Timo Werner had a good chance but squandered it. For the Mercedes-Benz Arena side, the pressure is beginning to mount on Alexander Zorninger.