体坛英语新闻：Leverkusen rally to beat Augsburg 4-1 in German Bundesliga

BERLIN, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Bayer Leverkusen boosted their chances to book a place in Europe for next season after coming from behind to beat Augsburg 4-1 on the road at the curtain raiser of the 31st round of Bundesliga on Friday.

Augsburg opened the scoring early in the game but Bayer Leverkusen turned the tides to wrapp up their third straight victory.

Both sides staged a lively opening period with opportunities at either end of the pitch.

The hosts eventually broke the deadlock with just 12 minutes into the encounter as Jonathan Schmid's corner found Kevin Danso, whose header flew into the top left corner.

It was a short-lived joy for Augsburg, as Leverkusen spent only three minutes restoring parity as Charles Aranguiz's through ball allowed Kevin Volland to hammer the ball from the edge of the box into the roof of the net.

In the 22nd minute, Leverkusen's Mitchell Weiser scored but the video assistant referee (VAR) ruled the goal from the German international offside.

However, Leverkusen ensured a bright start into the second half as Kai Havertz chipped a cross over Augsburg goalkeeper Gregor Kobel to make it 2-1 in the 48th minute.

Moments later Leverkusen got another goal disallowed, as Danso's own goal was ruled offside by the VAR.

The visitors remained on the front foot and extended their lead with an hour played when Jonathan Tah poked home a rebound from very close range.

The third goal took the wind out of Augsburg's sails and Leverkusen's Julian Brandt tapped home Kevin Volland's square pass to round off the 4-1 victory.

With the result, Bayern Leverkusen climbed to the 6th position of the standings whereas Augsburg remained on the 14th.

The following fixtures are scheduled for Saturday: runners-up Dortmund face rivals Schalke, Leipzig host Freiburg, Frankfurt encounter Berlin, bottom side Hannover see Mainz, newly promoted Dusseldorf clash with Bremen, and Stuttgart take on Monchengladbach.