FC Augsburg suffered defeat on their first game after the Bundesliga winter break in front of a sell-our crowd away against Borussia Dortmund. Enrico Maaßen’s side were defeated 4-3 in a crazy game of football.

In Dion Beljo and Arne Engels, head coach Maaßen handed FCA debuts to two new arrivals. Fellow new singings David Čolina, Kelvin Yeboah and Irvin Cardona were named on the bench, while Niklas Dorsch was named in the matchday squad for the first time this season as he returned from a long injury break.

In cold winter temperatures, FCA were forced into an early change when Mats Hummels fouled Ruben Vargas. The Swiss forward couldn’t continue, and Cardona made his first competitive appearance for the club (12’). Rafał Gikiewicz also took a knock after being struck in the face by a Raphael Guerreiro rebound after making a good initial stop from Donyell Malen’s effort (18’).

The complete game can be rewatched on FCA TV.

BVB continued to dominate the game, but Youssoufa Moukoko missed to the left of the goal in the 23rd minute. The home side were ahead six minutes later however, when Jude Bellingham found the back of the net from the edge of the box. Dortmund missed chances to double the lead through Malen (31’) and Hummels (37’) and FCA took their chance to equalise at the other end. Beljo won the ball in an advanced area and found Arne Maier, who got into the area and found the corner with the outside of his boot (40’).

The scores didn’t stay the same for long and the home side took the lead again just two minutes later. Nico Schlotterbeck met Julian Brandt’s free kick to head into the net (42’), but Maaßen’s side had a quick response once again. In injury time, Engels broke through from midfield and played in Ermedin Demirović, who made the scores level for the third time (45’+1).

Substitutes score for both sides

The second half was just as intense. Cardona came close to giving his new side the lead in the 47th minute and Demirović also saw an effort go just wide on the hour mark. Sebastien Haller came on for Dortmund in his first competitive game after recovering from cancer, while FCA also made three substitutions. Shortly before that, however, Dortmund were ahead again. Substitute Jamie Bynoe-Gittens cut in onto his right foot and found the far corner from 18 metres (75’).

At the other end, another substitute was among the goals. With his first shot in Augsburg colours, Čolina headed home a rebound from close range to level the game at 3-3. Despite coming from behind three times, FCA were sent home empty handed. Giovanni Reyna, another substitute, scored what turned out to be the winner with a dipping shot in the 89th minute. Demirović had a half chance to make it 4-4, but it wasn’t to be and referee Frank Willenborg brought the seven-goal spectacle to an end moments later.

FCA will be in action again soon, hosting Borussia Mönchengladbach on Wednesday 25th January (20:30 CET) in the final game of the first half of the season. The second half of the season will officially begin on Saturday 28th January (15:30 CET) when FCA make an away trip to SC Freiburg.

Unsere FCA-APP

Jetzt herunterladen!