Nothing to split Augsburg and Hoffenheim after scoreless stalemate
After a meaty aerial duel between Giannoulis and Kadeřábek which saw the latter booked in the first minute, the game started to open up with the first chance of note falling to the visitors. Swinging a ball in from the left, Andrej Kramarić found Marius Bülter centrally. A superbly timed intervention from Kevin Schlotterbeck spared Labrović's goal. Augsburg responded with a first time effort from Arne Maier whose effort was blocked by Arthur Chaves.
A flurry of opportunities around the half-hour brought further excitement as Bülter fed Kramarić who had the ball pinched off his boot by the alert Labrović. The Fuggerstädters star of late, Alexis Claude-Maurice, enjoyed two shots from range from which he forced Oliver Baumann into one fine save. A scoreless half came to an end with Philipp Tietz heading over from a corner and Umut Tohumcu off target from 20 metres.
Tom Bischof offered the first sign of intent after the break as the youngster tried his luck from 17 metres. A similar opportunity was created by Giannoulis down the left who found Maier, however Akpoguma's block prevented the strike from reaching Baumann. The introduction of Adam Hložek and Haris Tabaković instilled a bit of life into the game as the former linked up with compatriot Kadeřábek in attack.
Thorup also called upon his bench with a quarter of an hour remaining, and Steve Mounié almost thrust the hosts into a lead on 80 minutes. The Benin striker would be repelled by Baumann, with the Sinsheim club's shot-stopper alive to the threat of Essende on the rebound. So as to not be outdone, Labrović produced a neat parry to repel Tabaković on the edge of the box. Far from any want or lack of trying, but ultimately three minutes of additional time failed to produce a winning moment.