FC Augsburg rescued a late point away at Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday afternoon. The Foals took the lead early on, but Heiko Herrlich’s refused to give up – even with ten men – and were rewarded with an equaliser shortly before the final whistle.

Heiko Herrlich made three changes from the team that was beaten 3-0 by Hertha BSC before the international break. Rani Khedira replaced Carlos Gruezo (ill), while Florian Niederlechner and Alfred Finnbogason lined up in attack in place of Michael Gregoritsch and André Hahn (both bench).

Both teams started all guns blazing, as Finnbogason tested Yann Sommer’s goal inside 60 seconds. At the other end, Gladbach took the lead with their first chance. After a double salvo of saves from Rafal Gikiewicz, the ball dropped at the back post to Florian Neuhaus, who fired the hosts in front. But FCA refused to let their heads drop and, like their opponents, sought to get forward at any opportunity.

A clinical edge was lacking in the final third, however, while Borussia grew in strength as the game went on. Patrick Herrmann fired over Gikiewicz’s (21'), before Breel Embolo similarly couldn’t keep his headed chance down (36'). Otherwise, the slightly more defensive FCA coped well with the Gladbach threat. Lars Stindl fired narrowly off target with a free kick in shortly before the break (44').

Framberger sent off – Caligiuri equalises

The second period began at a slightly lower tempo than the first. Borussia started with more initiative, though Hannes Wolf’s header was no match for Gikiewicz (50'). The visitors continued to push for the second goal and Emolo looked certain to claim in on the hour mark, but the FCA shotstopper outwitted him in a 1-on-1 situation and diverted his effort onto the post. Embolo was at the heart of the action six minutes later when he fouled by Raphael Framberger. The Augsburg defender was already on a booking and was subsequently dismissed (66'). 

Despite being man down and full-time fast approaching, Herrlich’s men dug deep and were rewarded with an equaliser late on. After thwarting an Augsburg attack, the Borussia defence were unable to clear the ball from danger and it fell kind to Caliguiri on the right, who still had plenty of work to do to volley inside the near post (88').

Next up, FCA play host to SC Freiburg on Saturday, 28th November, 15:30 CET. 

Unsere FCA-APP

Jetzt herunterladen!