Even the ninth goal of the season by new national player Mergim Berisha was not enough for FC Augsburg to win their first away win in six months.
In the 2-2 (2-0) win at VfL Wolfsburg, the Augsburgers gave up a 2-0 lead at the break. After Wolfsburg's captain Maximilian Arnold scored an early own goal (2nd minute), Bersiha made it 2-0 for the guests in the 32nd minute.
But in the closing stages, the hosts came back again. First, Luca Waldschmidt scored the first goal for VfL (85'), then Wolfsburg's national team debutant Felix Nmecha scored the deserved equalizer for Wolfsburg (90') with the final action of the game.
Berisha underlined his strong form with his goal. No wonder that Augsburg will sign the 24-year-old. So far, Berisha has only been on loan from Fenerbahce Istanbul. The Bundesliga club has not yet exercised the purchase option, as manager Stefan Reuter (56) confirmed in an interview with the "Augsburger Allgemeine". But Reuter added: "But we will do it in time." The purchase option for Berisha is said to be around four million euros.
With nine goals, Berisha is Augsburg's top scorer this season. In the international matches against Peru (2-0) and Belgium (2-3), the 2021 U21 European champions made their debut in the senior national team last week.
At VfL Wolfsburg, new national player Nmecha initially only sat on the substitutes' bench. The 22-year-old midfielder made his national team debut in the 2-3 win against Belgium on Tuesday, came on Saturday for the second half - and scored.
From the bench, he had to watch Arnold develop into a very unlucky man. Arnold (28), who had also had hopes of a national team nomination after the World Cup debacle in Qatar, first scored an own goal with a fantastic header, then he shot a penalty kick over the Augsburg goal (21st). Arnold also made an unusual number of bad passes.
Nevertheless, Wolfsburg should not have been behind at the break. But Patrick Wimmer in particular missed the best chances for the hosts. Instead, Berisha used the only serious Augsburg opportunity to score a second goal for the guests.
After the change of sides, the guests limited themselves to defending the result. Wolfsburg continued to act in a superior manner, but made too many inaccuracies overall. Nmecha couldn't change anything about that at first. Substitute Waldschmidt scored the goal from Wolfsburg only five minutes before the end. Augsburg faltered and Nmecha still managed to equalize from Wolfsburg.
