Bavarian derby honours even

There was no winner in the Bavarian derby between Greuther Furth and Augsburg as it finished 1-1.

There was no winner in the Bavarian derby between Greuther Furth and Augsburg, with both sides ending a tense encounter a man down as the hosts missed their last chance to pick up a home Bundesliga victory in 2012. Augsburg went in front in the ninth minute through Sascha Molders, but Lasse Sobiech levelled for Mike Buskens' side. Furth captain Mergim Mavraj was then sent off, with Giovanni Sio following him for an early bath towards the end of a combative relegation battle which leaves both sides still staring the drop in the face. Augsburg narrowly avoided relegation in their first season in the top flight last term, thanks mainly to a revival in the second half of the campaign. They will need the same again if they are not to drop back to the second division in May, although they gave some positive signs early on against Furth, culminating in the opening goal in the ninth minute. Tobias Werner's free-kick was met by the unmarked Molders, who headed the visitors in front. The game became a real scrap with Furth desperate to get back into it and Augsburg keen to hold onto their lead. Fouls dominated the proceedings with no real rhythm developing as yellow cards appeared more frequently than goalscoring opportunities. Buskens must have found some choice words during the interval as there was more construction to his side's play in the second 45 minutes. They levelled in the 69th minute when Mohamed Amsif, who had already made a number of fine saves to keep Furth out, made his first misjudgement of the game from a corner. The ball reached Zoltan Stieber, whose cross struck the bar and fell to the on-loan Borussia Dortmund defender Sobiech, who headed in from close range. Nothe missed a chance to make it two for Furth moments later with Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker making a desperate goal-line clearance to come to Amsif's rescue. Mavraj was then shown his second yellow card after an aerial battle with Molders, leaving Furth with 10 men for the last 15 minutes of the game. Parity in numbers was restored nine minutes later, though, when Sio was dismissed just four minutes after coming onto the field as a substitute. The game ended with even numbers and an even result for two clubs who have matched each other stride by stride all season, although they both appear to be striding towards the second division with just nine points each from the first 17 games of the campaign.