Augsburg's lack of offensive play seemed to suggest a comfortable home game for Leverkusen, but the visitors were able to defend their early goal and hold on to a draw.

Disaster for Bernd Leno

The first ten minutes of the game offered little in the way of clear chances for either side, although both sides looked confident on the ball in the middle of the field.

It was Leverkusen's Bernd Leno that opened the scoring with a desperately unlucky own goal.  An innocent backward pass from Jonathan Tah seemed to be a routine kick up-field for the keeper, but a lump in the turf lifted the ball over his foot and into his own net, giving Augsburg an early lead.

Despite the early upset, Leverkusen had started well, and they were by far the side with the better chances over the first half, with multiple efforts flying just wide of Marwin Hitz's net.  Cristoph Kramer and new signing Javier Hernández looked most threatening, as their efforts on goal called the Augsburg keeper into action to defend their slender lead. 

It was Hernández who finally broke through, setting up his side's opening goal.  His long-range shot was deflected by the left post  and fell back into the path of Karim Bellerabi.  The German forward guided the ball under the outstretched arm of Hitz and into the net, levelling the game at 1-1.

Leverkusen battle to get in front

The second half also saw plenty forward movement from the home side and plenty shots at goal, as well as another off of the woodwork for Lars Bender, but no-one seemed to be able to find the net.

It looked as if Leverkusen had the chance they needed at last, as handball in the box gave them a penalty in the 71st minute.  Set-piece specialist Hakan Çalhanoğlu stepped up to the spot, but even he was not enough to send the ball home, as it flew over the bar towards the disbelieving home fans.

Leverkusen's last opportunity to equalise came from a run of three successive corner kicks in the 93rd minute.  Kyriakos Papadopoulos managed to get his head to the second cross, and only a fantastic reflex save from Hitz stopped a late winner for the home side. Leverkusen were forced to retire to the dressing room with a single point, despite maybe deserving more.

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