FC Augsburg’s wait for their first home point this season will have to go on after suffering a 2-0 loss to Hertha BSC in front of 25,789 spectators on Saturday at the WWK Arena.

Newcomer Mergim Berisha, who arrived from Fenerbahce shortly before the end of the transfer window, started against the Berliners, who went into this game winless. Robert Gumny, Carlos Gruezo and Daniel Caligiuri also started, while Iago and Fredrik Jensen were not in the squad, having suffered knocks in the 1-0 loss to Hoffenheim. Shortly before kick-off, the club bid an official farewell to Jan Morávek. The Czech, who played for Augsburg for ten years, moved to Bohemians Prague 1905 after the end of his contract at FCA. On the pitch, it was anything but friendly, with some hard-fought duels in the first 20 minutes between the two teams.

The 23rd minute saw the first real action, when Ermedin Demirović staunchly held his ground following a tackle from Filip Uremović. The Hertha defender leapt in for the tackle with the ball some 20 metres from his own goal, but referee Harm Osmers didn’t see it as a denial of a clear goalscoring opportunity. Uremovic received a yellow card, and the resulting free-kick did not beat the Hertha wall. The only chance for the visitors in the first 45 came from Chidera Ejuke, who drilled a right-footed shot just wide in the 35th minute.

Lukebakio and Richter score

After the break, FCA coach Enrico Maaßen brought on Ruben Vargas for Arne Maier. Carlos Gruezo had already come off in the first half after having been booked. In the 53rd minute, Demirović fired the ball over the goal from close range, but the goal would not have counted as the ball had gone out of play before the shot anyway. Three minutes later, the Fuggerstädter found themselves trailing, when Dodi Lukebakio headed in a cross from Marvin Plattenhardt to make it 1-0. The visitors suddenly found themselves ahead, with FCA unable to offer much response.

A cross on the hour mark from Vargas, off the bench, was not met in the six-yard box (60’), before a long-range shot from André Hahn was blocked (79’). Enrico Maaßen's team almost equalised in injury time when Hertha goalkeeper Oliver Christensen saved a header from a corner – but the visitors countered through Davie Selke, who squared to Marco Richter in the area. The former Augsburg man had little trouble finding the net, doubling Hertha’s advantage and wrapping up the result.

The defeat sees FCA slip to 16th in the table (3 points). The Függerstädter's next fixture seems them travel to Bremen next Friday, 9th September (20:30 CEST) for a meeting under the floodlights.

Unsere FCA-APP

Jetzt herunterladen!