Schick's late backheel rescues point for Bayer Leverkusen at Augsburg

Patrik Schick scored a late backheel goal to salvage a point for Bayer Leverkusen in a 2-2 draw at Augsburg. The Czech striker found the net in the 89th minute, after an earlier Leverkusen goal from Ibrahim Maza had been ruled out by VAR.

Leverkusen had taken the lead through Christian Kofane in the 18th minute, assisted by Edmond Tapsoba. After the break, Augsburg turned the game around within five minutes. Hennes Behrens capitalised on a slip by Michael Gregoritsch to equalise, before Gregoritsch himself made it 2-1 following a pass from Fabian Rieder.

Bayer Leverkusen head coach Carles Martinez said afterwards: "Leverkusen thought they had produced an immediate response less than four minutes later." He was referring to Maza's deflected shot that was initially thought to be a goal. Augsburg boss Manuel Baum stated: "Augsburg were given a reprieve after a VAR review."

Schick's spectacular finish, set up by Malik Tillman, eventually secured the point for Leverkusen. The result leaves Carles Martinez's side seventh in the Bundesliga after three matchdays, with one win, one draw and one loss. Schick is now the team's top scorer this season with three goals in three appearances.

Leverkusen must now refocus quickly as they host fifth-placed RB Leipzig on Saturday. The current injury list, featuring Kennet Eichhorn, Montrell Culbreath, Nathan Tella and Ibrahim Maza, presents a squad challenge. The team aims to continue the positive trend from their last five matches, which yielded three wins.

Further reading: sports.yahoo.com