The China Mail - Guirassy lifts Dortmund past Augsburg ahead of Man City clash

The victory took Dortmund to second in the Bundesliga, four points behind leaders Bayern Munich, who host Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.

Dortmund were solid but far from spectacular against a struggling Augsburg, who had won one of their past eight.

In a match with few chances for either side, the visitors needed an Augsburg mistake to take the lead eight minutes before half-time.

Chrislain Matsima blasted a clearance into his teammate Han-Noah Massengo, with the ball falling perfectly to Guirassy.

The Guinean took a touch and blasted through the outstretched hand of Augsburg goalkeeper Finn Dahmen. The goal was Guirassy's first in the league since mid-September.

The start of the match was delayed when Dortmund fans threw tennis balls onto the pitch, protesting the late starting time and calling for all Bundesliga matches to be moved to Saturday afternoon.

Having played 120 minutes in Tuesday's German Cup win at Eintracht Frankfurt that went to penalties, Dortmund coach Niko Kovac made six changes to his starting line-up.

The coach rested a handful of regulars and elected to leave defender and captain Nico Schlotterbeck, who had a light cold, at home.

The result continued Augsburg's woes under rookie coach Sandro Wagner, the former Bayern and Germany striker.

Augsburg, who were eliminated from the German Cup by second-division Bochum in midweek, have lost six of nine league games this season and sit just three points above the relegation zone.

Dortmund and City go into Wednesday's meeting in the Champions League level on seven points after three rounds of matches.

F.Brown--ThChM