Augsburg, Nov 1 Borussia Dortmund maintained their fine run of form with a narrow 1-0 victory over FC Augsburg, thanks to Serhou Guirassy's first Bundesliga goal in more than a month on Friday.
Coming off a taxing run of fixtures that saw them play seven matches in just three weeks, Niko Kovac made six changes from the side that edged Eintracht Frankfurt on penalties in the DFB Cup. Among them, Ramy Bensebaini replaced the ill Nico Schlotterbeck, while Guirassy returned to lead the line, reports Xinhua.
In a first half low on chances, both sides struggled to find rhythm. Dortmund dominated possession but moved the ball too slowly to unsettle Augsburg's compact defense. The hosts, reeling from recent heavy defeats, offered little going forward and relied mostly on long balls and isolated counterattacks.
The breakthrough arrived in the 37th minute when Chrislain Matsima's attempted clearance rebounded off teammate Han-Noah Massengo, allowing Guirassy to pounce and calmly slot home past Finn Dahmen, ending his 438-minute scoring drought.
After the break, Augsburg pressed higher in search of an equalizer, but failed at last.
Dortmund's disciplined defensive display secured their fifth consecutive victory in all competitions and allowed them to close the gap to leaders Bayern Munich to four points in the standings, while Augsburg extended their winless run to three matches.
"It was a tough match. We knew facing a side fighting against relegation would be difficult. You must be efficient and take your chances, and that worked for us today. We are not fully satisfied with our performance in possession, but the effort, passion, and attitude were exactly what we needed," said Kovac.
Dortmund now turns attention to Tuesday's Champions League clash in Manchester, while Augsburg faces a trip to Stuttgart next Sunday.
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