Bayer Leverkusen have defeated Augsburg 2-1 at home to leapfrog Borussia Dortmund into second place in the Bundesliga for the time being.

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The away side started the brighter of the two teams and had the better of the chances in the opening minutes.

Marcel de Jong, Koo Ja-Cheol, Kevin Vogt and Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker all tried their luck for Augsburg, before Andre Schurrle narrowly missed the target for Bayer from distance on 15 minutes.

That saw the home side get into the game and eventually go ahead on 26 minutes, Stefan Kiessling heading home Gonzalo Castro's delivery from close range.

© PA Photos

Schurrle's ambitious effort from outside the Augsburg penalty area just after the half-hour mark went wide, and then Sidney Sam forced Alexander Manninger into making a save.

Bayer almost went 2-0 up at the start of the second half when Sebastian Boenisch headed just high.

Castro then saw his effort saved, before Stefan Reinartz and Lars Bender squandered their chances.

However, Bayer did eventually score their second goal of the afternoon and it came with 15 minutes of normal time remaining, Bender firing home from the centre of the Augsburg box.

Sascha Molders halved the deficit on 89 minutes, but it proved to be a mere consolation for Augsburg.