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Baba vs. Boateng in the Bundesliga

Baba Abdul Rahman Defender

Tue, 7 Apr 2015 Source: goal.com

Abdul Rahman Baba went head-to-head with Kevin-Prince Boateng in the Bundesliga as Augsburg and Schalke 04 contested a 0-0 draw on Sunday.

The match was a particularly important one for both sides as they headed into this one neck-and-neck in the race for a Europa League spot in the German top flight.

The draw means that Schalke retain the initiative. They sit in fifth on 40 points, one place and one point ahead of Augsburg—one of the revelations of the Bundesliga season—with seven matches still to play.

It was a frustrating afternoon for both teams as either had clear chances to win it but were unable to find a finishing touch.

The significance of the match was clear from the off as both sides surged forward in search of the opener and refused to shirk any tough tackles.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, such an unerring finisher, could have won it for Schalke late on, but his effort was saved by Marwin Hitz.

Neither Baba nor Boateng started the game, but both were brought on during the second period.

The left-back missed the recent international break due to injury and was unable to feature in the Black Stars’ matches against Senegal and Mali. Baba returned to action on 65 minutes when he replaced Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

While Baba didn’t manage to influence the game offensively, he completed more interceptions in his 25-minute cameo (four) than any of his teammates managed over the whole contest according to WhoScored.

His Augsburg side have scored only one in their last five matches and won only one match since early February.

Boateng again began a match on the bench—an increasing occurrence under Roberto Di Matteo—but was brought on in the dying stages as The Miners sought a victory. He managed one shot in just under 10 minutes on the pitch.

Disputes on the touchline brought the game to a tetchy finish, and while Augsburg players appeared to be content with a point, Boateng’s Schalke will be disappointed at having fallen eight points behind fourth-place Bayer Leverkusen and Champions League qualification.

Source: goal.com