SINSHEIM, Germany (AP) — Florian Grillitsch scored twice as Hoffenheim ended a seven-game winless run in the Bundesliga by beating Augsburg 3-1 on Monday.
Hoffenheim started the season strongly and beat champion Bayern Munich in September but had not won a Bundesliga game since — despite a strong showing in the Europa League — after coronavirus cases sidelined key players for much of October and November.
Grillitsch gave Hoffenheim the lead in the 17th minute with a header at the far post off a cross from his fellow Austrian Christoph Baumgartner to cap an incisive team move.
Augsburg winger Daniel Caligiuri responded with a headed goal of his own 14 minutes later.
Grillitsch needed just 30 seconds of the second half to score again, flicking the ball over defender Jeffrey Gouweleeuw before scoring low into the bottom corner.
Ihlas Bebou extended Hoffenheim's lead four minutes later when he dribbled through most of the Augsburg half on a counterattack and scored with a placed finish. Andrej Kramaric put the ball in the net late on, but it was ruled out for offside.
Hoffenheim climbed three places to 10th, dropping Augsburg to 11th.
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