FCA turn it around against Freiburg

Another one of those Sundays: FC Augsburg celebrated a deserved 2-1 victory over SC Freiburg in the final game of matchday 23, which saw them climb up to 11th place in the league table.

Following on from the 1-0 defeat in Mainz, Jess Thorup had to do without Jeffrey Gouweleeuw and Mads Pedersen (both suspended). Maximilian Bauer filled in at centre-back, whilst Fredrik Jensen returned to Augsburg’s midfield. 

FCA have won all of their three Sunday matches (against Heidenheim, Frankfurt and Gladbach) since Thorup took over. Today’s Sunday opponents, SC Freiburg, qualified for the Europa League round of 16 on Thursday after defeating RC Lens (3-2 aet). The home side got straight down to business in the opening stages of the match – just three minutes in, Iago found himself alone in front of Noah Atubolu’s goal, as the left-back shot just wide of the right post.

Referee Bastian Dankert would then point to the spot after a challenge by Jensen on Vincenzo Grifo in the 18th minute. The Freiburg attacker stepped up and coolly converted his penalty to give the visitors the lead (19’). Whilst Thorup’s side had completed 90% of their passes up to this point, the final ball was still lacking. Ruben Vargas, who looked sharp in the first 45 minutes, tested Atubolu with a free kick from 25 yards out shortly before the break (44’).

Uduokhai and Engels turn the game around

In front of the 28,894 in attendance at the WWK Arena, FC Augsburg came out with real vigour at the start of the second half. First, Phillip Tietz missed the target with a volley (50’), and then Ermedin Demirović came close from six yards out (61’). However, it wouldn’t be until the 72nd minute that the equaliser would come for Augsburg. Tietz forced a spectacular save out of Atubolu before defender Felix Uduokhai forced the rebound over the line to make it 1-1. 

With the help of some fresh legs, FCA kept the pressure on and got their reward for a solid performance. Demirović played it to substitute Arne Engels on the left, and the young Belgian cut inside before firing the ball into the bottom-left corner. Arne Maier would then have a glorious chance to make it 3-1, but his attempt was tipped onto the post by Atubolu. The home side kept their concentration in defence to secure the three points and register their latest Sunday triumph!

The win took FCA onto 26 points and up to 11th place in the table. They next travel to bottom-placed, promoted side SV Darmstadt 98 on Saturday 2nd March (15:30 CET).

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