AUGSBURG, Germany (Reuters) -Borussia Dortmund battled past strugglers Augsburg 1-0 on Friday courtesy of forward Serhou Guirassy's first half strike, to climb back into second place in the Bundesliga.
It was Dortmund's fourth win in a row across all competitions, lifting them to second place in the league, four points behind leaders Bayern Munich, in action against Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
It was also a successful dress rehearsal for the Ruhr valley club ahead of Wednesday's Champions League trip to Manchester City.
Augsburg, who have now lost six of their nine league games this season, are anchored in 15th place on seven points, with the defeat piling even more pressure on already embattled coach Sandro Wagner.
Dortmund, who beat hosts Eintracht Frankfurt 4-2 on penalties in the German Cup second round on Tuesday, initially looked to be feeling the effects of that game with a slow start.
The hosts, desperate for a win, had the first chance after 20 minutes but it was Dortmund who struck first with their top scorer, Serhou Guirassy, benefitting from a bad clearance to slot in for the lead and bag his fifth league goal in the 37th.
Dortmund survived late pressure from Augsburg in the second half but held on to their slim lead.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
