FCA share the spoils in Stuttgart

After a busy period in the Bundesliga season, FCA will travel home from Stuttgart with a point in tow. The evenly balanced encounter ended goalless. There were a few changes to the side that beat Leipzig 1-0 in midweek. Captain Daniel Baier was unavailable for selection due to a suspension obtained as a result of his unsportsmanlike conduct, while Jan Moravek and Michael Gregoritsch started on the bench. In their places were Gojko Kacar, Ja-Cheol Koo and Marcel Heller. FCA made a lively start to the game, but it was the home side who had the game’s first chance in the 8th minute. Simon Terodde narrowly missed the target after a loose ball from a corner fell to his feet. Martin Hinteregger had a chance of his own at the other end a minute later, but he too couldn’t keep his shot on target. Stuttgart were inches away from taking the lead a mere five minutes later, when a strong run down the right from Josip Brekalo set up Terodde in the box, but the striker narrowly missed the far post (14’). The Bavarians were happy to let the home side have the majority of the ball as the game progressed, and Stuttgart found it very hard to find any openings in the resilient Augsburg defence. Unfortunately for FCA, Ja-Cheol Koo’s day was ended earlier than expected, as he was forced off with a head injury a mere 30 minutes in. Jan Moravek replaced the South Korean midfielder. Five minutes prior to the half time break, Anastonis Donis had the game’s next clear chance after he took on a free kick from a dangerous position, but his effort was just off to the left (41’). In the period of added time at the end of the first half, the ex-Stuttgart man Rani Khedira had a great chance to get the opener for FCA, but Ron-Robert Zieler stood tall in net and made a quality save to deny the midfielder. The game was goalless heading into the break. The home side started with more impetus in the second half, but they still found it extremely hard to create any serious threat to the FCA goal. Philipp Max had a good chance for FCA in the 62nd minute, but his shot from the left corner of the penalty area was dragged wide. Terodde had another chance down the other end through an open header, but FCA’s goalkeeper Marwin Hitz stayed calm and caught the ball easily (63’). Stuttgart really pushed towards the end in an effort to win all three points for their home fans, which consequently opened up space for FCA on the counter attack. Alfred Finnbogason had  a great chance thanks to a scything through ball from newly substituted Michael Gregoritsch, although his touch was too heavy, which allowed Zieler to come out of his net and deal with the danger well (76’). At the other end, Santiago Ascacibar came very close to breaking the deadlock, but his shot was fired into the side netting. The game’s final chance fell to Philipp Max, but his direct free kick didn’t catch out Zieler in the Stuttgart net, and he pushed it out of the danger area. That was the last of the action in Stuttgart, and both sides had to settle for a 0-0 draw.