体坛英语新闻：Augsburg lose 3-2 to Wolfsburg in German Bundesliga

BERLIN, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- Yannick Gerhardt's late winner secured Wolfsburg all three points against a resilient Augsburg at the close of the first half of the Bundesliga season on Sunday.

The "Wolves" extended their winning run to three matches and their unbeaten streak to six after beating their rivals 3-2. Wolfsburg established a two-goal lead in the first half but Augsburg rallied back after the restart before Gerhardt scored the late decider.

Augsburg grabbed a bright start at home as Marco Richter, Alfred Finnbogason and Michael Gregoritsch created promising chances in the opening period.

However, the opener was scored at the other end of the pitch as Wolfsburg gained a foothold in the game and broke the deadlock at the half-hour mark when Joshua Guilavogui tapped home a flicked on corner kick at the far post.

The opener knocked the hosts out of their stride and as a result the "Wolves" doubled the lead before the break after William had time and space at the edge of the box to mark his first ever Bundesliga goal with a well-placed low shot in the 41st minute.

Due to the Augsburg's hapless first-half performance, head coach Manuel Baum made changes and fielded Andre Hahn and Sergio Cordova. Baum's changes paid off as the "Fuggerstaedter" reduced the arrears through Rani Khedira, who slotted home from seven meters out in the 49th minute before Cordova nodded in Jonathan Schmid's delivery into the box nine minutes later.

Augsburg remained on the front foot but it was the visitors who snatched the victory through Gerhardt, who capitalized on a square pass to beat Augsburg goalkeeper Andreas Luthe with the winner from close range in the dying minutes of the game.

With the win, Wolfsburg climbed to fifth place on the table while Augsburg suffered their eighth defeat of the season to slip to the 15th position.

Elsewhere, Hoffenheim and Mainz shared the spoils as Jean-Philippe Mateta cancelled out Kerem Demirbay's opener for Hoffenheim. The Bundesliga will return from the winter break with the curtain raiser between Hoffenheim and Bayern Munich on January 18.