Dortmund's Mario Goetze (L) vies with Augsburg's Michael Gregoritsch during a German Bundesliga match between FC Augsburg and Borussia Dortmund, in Augsburg, Germany, on March 1, 2019. Dortmund lost 1-2. (Xinhua/Philippe Ruiz)
BERLIN, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Dong-Won Ji's brace helped Augsburg to grab vital points against front-runners Borussia Dortmund at the opener of the 24th round in Bundesliga on Friday.
Dortmund's title hopes suffered a setback as Augsburg's Dong-Won Ji scored twice to inflict the "BVB" the second loss of the season.
Augsburg started highly motivated into the encounter and caught the visitors flat footed as Ji's follow-up shot from very close range opened the scoring with 24 minutes into the game.
The opener was a wakening call as Dortmund increased the pressure to press 15th placed Augsburg into the defence.
Nevertheless, it took the "BVB" until the closing stages of the first half before they produced clear-cut chances as Thomas Delaney pulled wide from promising position before Augsburg's back up goalkeeper Gregor Kobel denied Jakob Bruun Larsen's effort.
After the restart, Lucien Favre's men continued on the front foot but Augsburg defended very well and kept the visitors on the distance.
The hosts flabbergasted Dortmund in the 68th minute when they doubled the lead through Ji, who danced through the defence to chip the ball into the top right corner.
The "BVB" threw everything up front and were able to reduce the arrears in the 81st minute as substitute Paco Alcacer slotted home Mario Goetze's square pass to make it 2-1 on the scoreboards.
Augsburg wobbled and Dortmund pressed relentlessly for the equalizer but their efforts remained fruitless as the hosts stood firm to secure all three points on home soil.
With the result, 15th positioned Augsburg increased the distance to the drop zone to five points for the moment meanwhile Dortmund remain atop the standings with a three-point advantage
The following fixtures are scheduled for Saturday: third placed Borussia Monchengladbach host runner up Bayern Munich, Schalke face Fortuna Dusseldorf, Bayer Leverkusen clash with Freiburg, Eintracht Frankfurt see Hoffenheim, Hertha Berlin meet Mainz and bottom side Nuremberg travel to Leipzig.
