South Korea international midfielder Koo Ja-cheol netted on Sunday to help Bundesliga strugglers Augsburg pick up only their second league win of the season with a 3-2 victory at Fortuna Duesseldorf.
Koo gave Augsburg a 2-0 lead at the break when he scored from a tight angle on the stroke of halftime by firing across Fortuna’s luckless goalkeeper Fabian Giefer to claim his third goal of the season.
The goalkeeper was twice exposed as he first allowed Augsburg striker Sascha Moelders a simple tap in after the ball rolled through his legs on 40 minutes.
Moelders then charged down Giefer’s 71st-minute clearance, which flew into the Fortuna net to make it 3-0 to the guests.
Robbie Kruse helped pull a goal back for Fortuna when his 73rd-minute pass was converted by striker Stefan Reisinger, who then netted a second on 91 minutes to set up a tense finale.
Just before the final whistle, referee Manuel Graefe disallowed a second Reisinger goal, which would have made it 3-3, after calling a foul against Fortuna replacement striker Dani Schahin, much to the fury of coach Norbert Meier.
“I don’t know what the referee saw before the third goal, for me it was no foul, but we can’t blame the referee for the defeat,” Meier said. “There shouldn’t be excessive criticism of Giefer, he’s rescued us in previous games.”
Despite the points, Augsburg stay second from bottom, nine points from safety, while Fortuna are 14th.
Earlier, Hamburg SV were held to a 1-1 draw at Nuremberg as Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart made his first appearance since November.
Former Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur star Van der Vaart, 29, has endured a difficult few months after tearing his hamstring in November, then injuring his thigh, but he looked sharp playing behind the strikers.
Hamburg took the lead on 70 minutes when Latvia international striker Artjoms Rudnevs headed home, only for Czech Republic international striker Tomas Pekhart to level for the hosts five minutes later.
The point moves Hamburg up to ninth, while Nuremberg, whose coach Michael Wiesinger was taking charge of his first Bundesliga match, are 15th.
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