FC Augsburg picked up their second league win of the season on Sunday night, defeating VfB Stuttgart 4-1 despite going behind early on. Three goals came from set pieces, while a substitute scored just minutes after coming on to put the icing on the cake.

Head coach Markus Weinzierl made two changes to the side that lost on penalties at VfL Bochum in the DFB-Pokal during the week. Mads Pedersen and Alfred Finnbogason replaced Iago (hand injury) and André Hahn (bench).

VfB enjoyed the better start at the WWK Arena. After just three minutes, Daniel Didavi struck a free-kick from a promising position into the wall (3’). Shortly after that, the away side took the lead. Chris Führich cut in from the right and fired a low shot into the bottom corner (7’). FCA coped well with the early setback, though it took Weinzierl’s team a while to threaten the VfB goal.

Who else? Oxford heads in the equaliser

With almost an hour played, Ruben Vargas curled one just over (25’). This chance seemed to kick start FCA though, with Fabian Bredlow saving a Daniel Caligiuri free-kick just a minute later (26’), before Finnbogason was denied on the break by the visiting goalkeeper (29’).

From the resulting corner, the home fans finally had something to celebrate. Arne Maier whipped it in and Reece Oxford rose highest to head in the deserved equaliser (30’) – his third goal across his last four competitive games. For the remainder of the first half, the Fuggerstädter were arguably the better side, though they only had one more chance through Oxford, who couldn’t get enough behind his shot (40’). At the other end, Caligiuri was on hand to put pressure on Didavi (35’).

Gouweleeuw makes it 2-1 – Niederlechner and Finnbogason add finishing touches

It was FCA who made the better start to the second half, as VfB failed to clear a Maier corner. The ball ended up with captain Jeffrey Gouweleeuw, who headed in from close range and gave Augsburg the lead (52’). Stuttgart looked for a quick response, with Mateo Klimowicz and Orel Mangala denied by FCA goalkeeper Rafał Gikiewicz from tight angles.

The home side sat back after taking the lead, and looked to counter attacks for opportunities. One such passage saw Clinton Mola make a vital block from Finnbogason (64’). Shortly afterwards, another set piece decided the game. A Pedersen free-kick was not cleared by VfB, and Finnbogason found Florian Niederlechner, who stroked home from close range to make it 3-1 (72’). As the game entered the final 10 minutes, FCA added another, this time on the counter. Zeqiri found the imperious Finnbogason, who drove home low into the bottom corner and put the final mark on a 4-1 afternoon for Augsburg (81’).

Finally, the FCA fans were able to celebrate a second win of the season. Next Saturday, November 6th, the team will seek another three points away at VfL Wolfsburg (15:30 CET).

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