FCA end year on a sour note with heavy defeat in Kiel

FC Augsburg went into the winter break with a whimper, as they suffered a 5-1 loss against promoted side Holstein Kiel on matchday 15 of the 2023/24 Bundesliga season.

Head coach Jess Thorup made three changes to last week’s starting XI. Captain Jeffrey Gouweleeuw was suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season in the 2-0 loss against Bayer Leverkusen, with Maximilian Bauer replacing him in the backline. Alexis Claude-Maurice and Elvis Rexhbecaj, who missed the clash against the Werkself due to illness, also started.

There was a minute’s silence before kick-off at the Holstein-Stadion for the victims of the attack at the Magdeburg Christmas markets, with both sides also wearing black ribbons. Over 1,100 FCA supporters made the long journey up north to cheer their team on in the final matchday of the calendar year.

Augsburg got off to a perfect start. In the fifth minute of the game, Samuel Essende broke free down the left wing and played a pinpoint pass to Alexis Claude-Maurice. The midfielder took aim from the edge of the box and found the back of the net to put the away side 1-0 up. The celebrations were short-lived, however. FCA suffered a setback in the 11th minute, as Keven Schlotterbeck was forced off with a thigh problem. Henri Koudossou replaced him for the remainder of the match.

The visitors looked disorganised, and Kiel were able to take advantage of the chaos in their ranks. After exactly a quarter of an hour, Lasse Rosenboom finished off an attack to level the encounter up once again. The next goal for the hosts came shortly after the half-an-hour mark. A deflected corner fell to Phil Harres, who headed home to give Kiel the lead. Things went from bad to worse for FCA, with Harres getting his second of the afternoon from range in the 35th minute. Four minutes later, Shūto Machino converted a free kick to give the newly promoted side a 4-1 lead going into the break.

Machino compounds Augsburg misery in second half

Frank Onyeka came on for FCA at the start of the second 45, but the substitution did nothing to hinder Kiel’s momentum. The home side had the first chance of the second half in the 52nd minute, though Alexander Bernhardsson sliced his shot wide. Marius Wolf found Chrislain Matsima with a cross three minutes later, but the centre-back’s effort went over the bar. Thorup rolled the dice as Ruben Vargas, Steve Mounié and Arne Maier entered the fray, but FCA continued to toil in the drizzly Kiel weather. There was a silver lining for the away team – Harres was denied a hat-trick in the 68th minute due to an offside in the build-up.

Shortly before the end of the game, Kiel added to an already embarrassing afternoon for Augsburg by making it 5-1. Machino popped up at the back post and had no trouble converting the chance in the first minute of added time. The final whistle was music to the FCA players’ ears as it brought a miserable afternoon to a close. Thorup’s side have work to do during the winter break before they return to Bundesliga action on 12th January (17:30 CEST), with VfB Stuttgart making the trip to the WWK ARENA.

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