FC Augsburg gave their latest display of their comeback qualities against Borussia Dortmund. After going behind early on, Alexis Claude-Maurice, who was making his first start, bagged a brace to secure all three points for the Fuggerstädter.

FCA head coach Jess Thorup made two changes to the starting XI for his side’s first game back after the international break. Whilst Alexis Claude-Maurice – who had recently made two cameo appearances against Borussia Mönchengladbach and in Freiburg – was named in the line-up for the very first time, Keven Schlotterbeck returned to the back four after overcoming a thigh injury. 

It would be the guests from Dortmund who got the better start. In just the fifth minute, Serhou Guirassy placed a ball through for Donyell Malen, who had a free shot on goal from twelve yards, striking the ball over Nediljko Labrović and into the Augsburg net.

After taking the lead, the Schwarzgelben continued to enjoy the longer spells of possession, but FCA continued to implement their high press and made it tough for their guests to play out from the back, even if this meant pushing them back into their own penalty area. There was then a decisive moment in the middle of the pitch: Claude-Maurice wasn’t put under any pressure, and so he bravely tried his luck from 25 yards out and sent the ball flying into the bottom-left corner to bring the scores level (25’).

The equaliser didn’t slow the game down by any means, as both teams continued to try and get forward, but there weren’t any chances of note at either end between Claude-Maurice's goal and the interval.

Claude-Maurice at the double

The home side remained unchanged as they came out after the break, and it would be the hosts who enjoyed the better of starts to the second period. Elvis Rexhbecaj’s cross was cleared by Emre Can, but the ball fell perfectly to the feet of Claude-Maurice, who wasted no time before curling the ball into the bottom-right corner from 18 yards out and making it 2-1 to FCA, a goal which went down very well with the crowd at the WWK ARENA.

Another good chance came the hosts’ way in the 68th minute, and once again it was Claude-Maurice who was involved in the play. He beat Can on the left wing and crossed into the box, where ex-Dortmund player Marius Wolf was able to have a go, but his shot went wide. Shortly after, there was drama in the box as Can caught Schlotterbeck’s foot whilst attempting to clear the ball, but both the referee and VAR decided the contact wasn’t enough to award a penalty (70’). 

Dortmund turned the screw once again as a lot of the game was starting to be played in Augsburg’s third, but the visitors were just lacking the final pass. Augsburg didn’t shy away as Dortmund increased their physicality, but rather defended with real heart, even into the nine minutes of injury time, during which Dortmund’s Almugera Kabar received a second yellow card and was given his marching orders. This courageous defending secured FCA three important points after what was an intensive match-up in front of 30,660 fans at the WWK ARENA.

FC Augsburg next face FC Schalke 04 in the second round of the DFB-Pokal on Tuesday, 29th October (18:00 CET), with their next league fixture away at Wolfsburg the following Saturday (3rd November, 15:30 CET).

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