Die Werkself had plenty of possession in the early stages, but Augsburg have been difficult to beat at the WWK Arena and defended resolutely before hitting the first shot on goal, even if Arne Maier’s attempt was routinely saved.
Leverkusen made their first effort count just before the quarter-hour mark, as Granit Xhaka played the ball behind for Jeremie Frimpong to tee up Martin Terrier for a clinical first-time finish.
Florian Wirtz then fired over and Nathan Tella saw his attempt blocked as the visitors continued to look menacing in attack.
The hosts still kept competing and thought they had equalised when Keven Schlotterbeck headed in from Marius Wolf’s free-kick delivery, but the defender had strayed offside.
Their defiant attempts at a comeback continued with Wolf’s long throw causing chaos in the Leverkusen box before Maier eventually saw another attempt saved by Lukas Hradecky.
Their defence was unlocked again in the 40th minute, though, as Wirtz collected Tella’s pass and worked enough space to pick out the bottom corner with a pinpoint strike.
Phillip Tietz saw a header saved within a minute of the restart but Leverkusen soon took control again as they held plenty of possession, and a curling Wirtz attempt forced Nediljko Labrovic to palm the ball away.
Jess Thorup made a double change before the hour mark in an effort to change the flow, with Alexis Claude-Maurice visibly keen to make an impact but seeing his shot blocked by Piero Hincapie.
Jeffrey Gouweleeuw then came nowhere near hitting the target with a wild strike after Wolf’s corner delivery had gone through to find him at the back post.
Claude-Maurice’s ambitious hit in the final minutes was unconvincingly palmed wide by Hradecky before Kristijan Jakic headed wide from the ensuing corner, as Leverkusen maintained their buffer on the way to securing their seventh consecutive win across all competitions.
The victory takes them four points behind Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich after their defeat to Mainz and also ended Augsburg’s five-game unbeaten streak at home, which had been their joint-longest run since February 2018.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Granit Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen)
