Edmond Tapsoba scored a 95th-minute equaliser to rescue faltering top-four candidates Bayer Leverkusen a point in Augsburg.

Augsburg 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen
Goals: 1-0 Niederlechner (5'), 1-1 Tapsoba (90'+5)

Augsburg made a dream start through Niederlechner's fifth-minute goal. It was arguably the easiest of his 33-goal Bundesliga career, with Leverkusen goalkeeper Niklas Lomb - making his full debut in place of the injured Lukas Hradecky - inadvertently nudging Tim Fosu-Mensah's back-pass to the Augsburg striker with his standing foot for the simplest of tap-ins. The hosts were in complete control as Niederlechner, Laszlo Benes and Daniel Caligiuri fired over from free-kicks, but were grateful to Raphael Framberger's last-gasp intervention for denying Patrik Schick a clear sight of goal and preserving their lead.

Leverkusen finally forced a save out of Rafal Gikiewicz through Wendell early in the second half. The Augsburg custodian failed to deal with a Moussa Diaby cross moments later, but the visiting red shirts were slow to react and the chance was gone. Niederlechner thought he'd won a penalty in the 53rd minute following a challenge from Fosu-Mensah, only for the decision to be overturned following a VAR review offside. Ruben Vargas and substitute Jeremie Frimpong traded chances in an open finale, and Lucas Alario went within a whisker of turning in from substitute Demarai Gray, before Tapsoba met the Englishman's next delivery with the last kick of the game.

Match stats

• Niederlechner ended a run of seven games without a goal in meetings with Leverkusen. All three of his goals this season have fallen across his last five games.
• Tapsoba's goal was his first in his 20th Bundesliga appearance.
• Leverkusen are unbeaten in all 20 Bundesliga meetings with Augsburg (W13, D7). No match-up has been played so many times without both teams winning at least once.
• Bayer snapped a run of three straight away defeats in the league.
• Bayer have conceded at least once in their last 10 league games - the longest run of any club.
• Augsburg coach Herrlich played his first 75 Bundesliga games as a player for Leverkusen, and coached Die Werkself from the summer of 2017 to the end of 2018.

Watch: Lomb: "I gifted them the goal"

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Line-ups

Augsburg: Gikiewicz - Framberger (Gumny 72'), Gouweleeuw (c), Uduokhai, Pedersen - Strobl, Khedira - Caligiuri (Oxford 79'), Benes (Moravek 72'), Vargas (Hahn 66') - Niederlechner (Richter 79')
Unused subs: Koubek, Suchy, Gregoritsch, Gruezo
Out: Finnbogason (calf), Iago (ankle), Jensen (thigh)
Coach: Heiko Herrlich

Leverkusen: Lomb - Fosu-Mensah, S. Bender (Gray 74'), Tapsoba, Wendell - Wirtz (Alario 58'), Aranguiz (c), Demirbay - Bailey (Frimpong 58'), Schick, Diaby
Unused subs: Grill, Tah, Dragovic, Sinkgraven, Palacios
Out: Arias (ankle), Baumgartlinger (knee), Bellarabi (thigh), L. Bender (calf), Hradecky (heel), Paulinho (knee), Weiser (thigh)
Coach: Peter Bosz

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