Maier: "Happy to take the point"
Reactions to the 1-1 draw at Bochum
First Team
03.02.2024, 18:51
FC Augsburg again showed their morale away at Bochum, claiming a draw through a stoppage-time penalty from Ermedin Demirović. Here is all the post-match reaction following today's match.
Arne Maier: “We knew that we would have a tough away game here. Bochum really forced the issue in the first half and, as expected, played a lot of long balls. In the second half and especially in the last few minutes, we clearly had the upper hand in possession, so I think a draw is a fair result. It all went really quickly in the build-up to the penalty, but I saw an arm in play and that’s how the referee saw it too. At the end of the day, we’re happy to take the point.”
Ermedin Demirović: “At the end of the day, it was the competitive game we expected it to be. We played similarly to Bochum in the first half, but we were clear that we wanted to bring our A-game for the second half. So I don’t think the point was lucky, but that we earned it through our display in the second half. It was a determined showing.”
Pep Biel: “It was a tough game, but we learned from the first half and played well in the second period. I’m glad I could make my debut straight away. I’ve been welcomed by the team and the staff and I felt very comfortable on the pitch."
Jess Thorup (FC Augsburg): “I saw two very different halves. In the first 45 minutes we made it too easy for Bochum and played a lot of long balls. We spoke during the half-time interval about how we have to play our own game. We put Bochum under more and more pressure and at the final whistle we came away with a deserved point. It's an important point for us, as Bochum are one of the toughest teams to face away from home.”
Thomas Letsch (VfL Bochum head coach): “It was the game we were expecting; we were sharp from the first minute and scored a great goal. All in all, it was a good first half. In the second period we had less of a foothold in the game and I myself made a few bad decisions. We were too defensive, gave them too much space and the pressure grew bigger and bigger on us. We did have two chances on the counter too, though – if we’d made the most of them, we’d be speaking very differently now.
