Augsburg keeper preserves 1-0 win at Bremen amid late drama

BREMEN, Germany (AP) — Augsburg goalkeeper Rafał Gikiewicz saved an injury-time penalty and infuriated Werder Bremen fans by preserving his team’s 1-0 win in the Bundesliga on Friday.

The game ended with a threat of violence from Bremen fans who stormed from the stand to the advertising hoarding behind Gikiewicz’s goal after he put his finger to his lips and gestured in their direction following his save of Marvin Ducksch’s penalty in the fourth minute of injury time.

Bremen players appealed to their supporters to stay put and referee Martin Petersen booked Gikiewicz for the alleged provocation.

Augsburg players and coaching staff were already incensed when Petersen awarded the spot kick for Maximilian Bauer’s handball. The visitors complained that Bauer had no time or space to avoid the ball when Ducksch kicked it into his arm. To add to their anger, there was no VAR check of the incident.

Bremen’s Niclas Füllkrug earlier had a goal ruled out through VAR for offside in the first half, while Augsburg had Gikiewicz to thank for keeping the game scoreless until Ermedin Demirovic broke the deadlock in the 63rd minute.

Mergim Berisha crossed for Demirovic to score from close range. It proved to be the winner and it gave Augsburg just its second win from six games. The other four were defeats.

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