FC Augsburg picked up a convincing 4-0 victory in their first friendly of their training camp in Malta. Noah Sarenren Bazee opened the scoring, before new signing Eduard Löwen doubled the lead for Martin Schmidt’s side. Julian Schieber also netted twice to seal the victory for FCA.

Head coach Martin Schmidt chose a heavily rotated side for the affair. Felix Götze and Marek Suchý both enjoyed their first starts since returning from long-term injuries.

FC Augsburg started the game as the much better side at the Malta national stadium, Ta’Qali. The Fuggerstädter created a flurry of chances in the opening stages but failed to put them away. Julian Schieber latched onto a beautifully played ball by Fredrik Jensen but only managed to put his effort straight at the Hibernian goalkeeper Marko Jovicic (8’). The man between the sticks then intercepted André Hahn’s cross just moments later. At the other end of the pitch the hosts managed to create two chances of their own. They picked up a dangerous free-kick at the edge of the penalty area, however they were unable to beat the FCA wall (14’), and Leandro Da Silveira’s resulting strike from the follow-up proved to pose no threat to Andreas Luthe in the Augsburg net.

FC Augsburg then regained control of the game and proceeded to raid the Hibernians’ goal but were just lacking that cutting-edge in the final third, with the opposition defence holding firm. However, the deadlock was finally broken in the 28th minute. André Hahn picked out Noah Sarenren Bazee with a pin-point cross, who headed the visitors into the lead. FCA remained on the front-foot and dominated possession, but failed to add to their lead before the referee blew for half time.

A goal and an assist – the perfect debut for new signing Löwen

FCA made two changes at the break: Fabian Giefer replaced Andreas Luthe in goal, with new addition Eduard Löwen taking Götze’s place in the midfield. It didn’t take long for Martin Schmidt’s side to get going again, doubling their lead just four minutes into the half (49’). Sarenren Bazee just about managed to keep the ball in play along the goal-line, before laying the ball across for the new signing to mark his debut with a goal (2-0). FCA refused to let up and continued to pose a constant threat for the Maltese side. This time Löwen turned provider, setting it up for Schieber from the right hand side, who sent the visitors into a 3-0 lead (67’).

The striker then doubled his tally for the afternoon just four minutes later, latching onto a misplaced pass from the newly-substituted Hibernians goalkeeper Matthew Calleja Cremona to complete the rout (4-0). However, Hibernians refused to give up and managed to come back into the game for the closing stages. Manuol Iriberri was set through on goal in the 80th minute, but Giefer made himself big to deny the hosts a consolation goal.

Next up for FCA is another friendly match on Friday afternoon against Cercle Brügge (15:00 CET). You can catch the game live on both Facebook und YouTube.

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