BERLIN (AP) — One week after its young attacking stars impressed in the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund slumped to a 2-0 defeat at Augsburg.
Gio Reyna, Jadon Sancho, Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham grabbed the headlines in beating Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-0 in the opening round, but were frustrated by a stubborn defense marshaled by Augsburg goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz on Saturday.
Dortmund dominated the first half with eight efforts on target, but Felix Uduokhai scored with Augsburg’s only chance of the half, heading home a free kick from close range in the 40th minute.
Former Schalke player Daniel Caligiuri doubled the lead in the 54th, holding off Thomas Meunier’s challenge before shooting past Dortmund ’keeper Roman Bürki.
Dortmund coach Lucien Favre sent on Marco Reus and Julian Brandt with half an hour to play, to little effect. The 18-year-old Brazilian Reinier followed for his Bundesliga debut in the 69th, but he couldn’t lift the side either.
“We had nearly 80% ball possession, but sometimes that doesn't bring much,” Favre said.
Gikiewicz denied Mats Hummels, then Haaland late on, as Augsburg claimed its second win in two games.
Gikiewicz’s former side, Union Berlin, salvaged a 1-1 draw at Gladbach thanks to Nico Schlotterbeck’s late equalizer. Marcus Thuram scored with a deflected header for Gladbach in the 56th.
SCHALKE MISERY CONTINUES
Schalke’s latest bid to end a 17-game run without a win ended in another defeat, with Niclas Füllkrug scoring a hat trick in Werder Bremen’s 3-1 win in Gelsenkirchen.
Schalke defender Ozan Kabak was sent off late for a second yellow card, but the home side’s troubles started long before, with Füllkrug opening the scoring in the 22nd, set up by American forward Josh Sargent.
Füllkrug capitalized on sloppy defending to score his second in the 37th, then added a penalty in the 60th after he was fouled in the area by Kabak. Kabak got his second yellow card in the 84th.
Mark Uth scored Schalke’s consolation in injury time, but it won't alleviate the pressure on coach David Wagner. Wagner’s side started the season losing at Bayern Munich 8-0.
Bayer Leverkusen and Leipzig drew 1-1, and promoted sides Arminia Bielefeld and Stuttgart enjoyed wins over Cologne and Mainz, respectively.
Joan Simun Edmundsson scored for Bielefeld to win 1-0, and Stuttgart fought back to win in Mainz 4-1.
Plans to allow Schalke fans to attend the late game were canceled earlier Saturday due to a high number of new coronavirus infections in the area.
Limited numbers of fans have been allowed at most games since last weekend for the first time since restrictions began in March.
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