Augsburg went into Friday night's game at the SGL Arena with momentum on their side, having won their last two matches. Nuremberg, meanwhile, had drawn four straight in the league but were hoping to take advantage of the absence of Augsburg Captain Daniel Baier. The midfielder was missing from the lineup through injury.

Despite spending much of the opening period on the back foot, Nuremberg were first to score. In the 21st minute, goalkeeper Raphael Schäfer sent a long ball into the Augsburg half, which Thomas Pekhart headed on to Alexander Esswein on the left wing. Esswein sent a low cross in to Hiroshi Kiyotake at the top of the box, and the Japanese midfielder sent a well-placed, left-footed curler past Mohamed Amsif and into the top left corner.

In the 36th minute, Schäfer again was involved in a goal, though not in the way he would have liked. Starting on the right wing, Andre Hahn crossed to Tobias Werner in the box, who headed straight at Schäfer. But rather than catch or block away the attempt, the Nuremberg keeper knocked the shot down in front of him, and the ball rolled in between his legs to level the score at 1-1.

Nine minutes into the second half, the visitors pulled ahead again. After Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker was given a yellow card for pulling down Kiyotake just outside the box, Nuremberg were awarded a free kick from a dangerous position. Esswein stepped up to take the shot and sent a powerful low ball through a crack in the Augsburg wall and into the back of the net.

It was a deflating goal for the hosts to concede, as they had controlled much of the play up to that point. Augsburg continued to run at Nuremberg, even bringing on African Cup of Nations star Aristide Bance for the final 10 minutes.

But in the end a disciplined defense was the decider, and Nuremberg prevented their opponents from getting a meaningful shot on goal for the remainder of the match.

"Unfortunately, we let in two easy goals," said Werner after the match. "We were playing for the win in the second half… it's obviously bad for us."

The victory is only the second of 2013 for Nuremberg, and temporarily moves them into 11th place. Augsburg meanwhile will remain in 16th, but run the risk of slipping even further behind Wolfsburg, who sit in 15th, seven points clear with a game in hand.

'Revierderby' on Saturday

The Bundesliga resumes Saturday, with the "Revierderby" highlighting the weekend. The match pits Borussia Dortmund against local rivals Schalke in Gelsenkirchen.

Schalke head into the game off the back of consecutive victories, but a win against the two-time reigning champions would certainly help to convince fans that their team's dramatic slide has come to an end.

Dortmund, meanwhile, have few big matches to look forward to outside of the Champions League. Bayern Munich eliminated them from the German Cup last week and have all but wrapped up the Bundesliga title.

But victory versus Schalke would be a feather in the cap of Dortmund's historic week after they advanced to the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the first time in 15 years on Tuesday.