FCA defeat Viktoria Berlin 4-1 in DFB-Pokal

FC Augsburg travelled to the capital for a DFB-Pokal clash on Sunday afternoon. Jess Throup’s side had to come back from behind against Regionalliga side Viktoria Berlin to secure their spot in the second round, ultimately triumphing 4-1.

After falling at the first hurdle of last year’s DFB-Pokal to SpVgg Unterhaching, FCA approached their cup clash at the Jahn-Sportpark with caution. New arrival Steve Mounié (illness) and Frederik Jensen (knock) were not included in the squad, while Marius Wolf was named on the bench.

Augsburg’s first competitive game of the 2024/25 season got off to the worst possible start, as the underdogs took the lead from a corner - Aidan Liu poked the ball over the line from short range to put the hosts in front. Dimitris Giannoulis had the chance to hit back for FCA, but the left-back was denied by a good reaction save from Viktoria keeper Florian Horenburg (9’). FCA had over 72% possession after going behind and started to up the ante in terms of chance creation. 

Phillip Tietz looked to equalise for FCA in the 24th minute, but his header from Mads Pedersen’s whipped ball into the box hit the post. Tietz turned creator shortly afterwards, bringing a cross from the right-hand side down and deftly laying the ball off to Elvis Rexhbecaj. The midfielder’s shot hit the back of the net via the inside of the post to level things up again at 1-1 (33’). Thorup’s side almost completed the turnaround before the interval, but another effort from Tietz was cleared off the line (42’).

Essende makes it 2-1, Dorsch and Tietz seal the deal

FCA picked up where they left off at the start of the second half by continuing to dominate proceedings. They were rewarded for their efforts in the 53rd minute, with Samuel Essende putting the away side ahead. Arne Maier sent Augsburg’s nuber 9 through on goal with an outside-of-the-boot pass and the Congolese international coolly slotted the ball into the far corner to make it 2-1. Despite FCA’s dominance, all results were still possible as the game drew to a close, with Viktoria hoping to hit the visitors on the break and grab a late equaliser. 

Both Wolf and Yusuf Kabadayi entered the fray to make their competitive debuts for Augsburg in the closing stages, and Jess Thorup’s side scored two late goals to book their place in the second round. Ruben Vargas’ cross into the box found Kabadayi and Niklas Dorsch latched onto the new arrival’s cushioned header. Augsburg’s number 30 effortlessly stroked the ball past Horenburg for Augsburg’s third, which was soon followed by a fourth courtesy of the lively Tietz. The striker headed home from Giannoulis’ cross in the second minute of added time to put the cherry on top of a successful start to the campaign for FCA.

As a result of the 4-1 win in Berlin, the Fuggerstädter will be involved in the second round of this season's DFB-Pokal. Augsburg will kick off their Bundesliga campaign next Saturday with a clash against Werder Bremen at the WWK ARENA (15:30 CEST).

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