December: Late goals in a busy week of games
2020 Review of the Year
Club
31.12.2020, 09:00
2020 was a year shaped by the coronavirus pandemic, although FCA still managed to have a successful year, securing their Bundesliga status for a tenth successive year. FCA continued to score late goals in December, including one from a defender on a drought.
FCA’s second Monday night game of the season came away at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. Just as the last two games, Augsburg came from behind to equaliser through Daniel Caligiuri, who scored in his third consecutive away game. Just after the break, Hoffenheim netted two quick goals to secure a 3-1 win. “We threw the game away in five minutes,” said a frustrated Heiko Herrlich.
The next game in December saw former FCA coach Manuel Baum return to the WWK Arena with FC Schalke 04. The game was overshadowed by a bad injury to Mark Uth, who was unconscious for several minutes on the ground after a collision with Felix Uduokhai. Uth was eventually taken to hospital and thankfully ‘only’ suffered a concussion. Augsburg once again showed their great character to take a point from the game, having gone 2-1 down and then losing Florian Niederlechner after he was shown two yellow cards. Marco Richter’s injury-time equaliser rescued a point on the day, although the result wasn’t the most important thing. “On days like this, you quickly realise that there are some things more important than football,” stressed Heiko Herrlich.
Gallery: 20201231 Dezember
Captain Gouweleeuw ends his drought
Three days later, FCA were back in action away to Arminia Bielefeld in a midweek fixture. A hard-fought battle was eventually won by the Fuggerstädter, thanks to a late goal from captain Jeffrey Gouweleeuw. The defender burst forward in the 88th minute to score only his third Bundesliga goal and first in 88 games. “Today wasn’t about the way we played, but rather getting the three points,” said a pleased Herrlich after his side ended a run of five games without a win (3 draws, 2 defeats).
Augsburg’s final Bundesliga game of the year was at home to Eintracht Frankfurt. A feisty game, which saw chances at both ends, was eventually won 2-0 by the visitors, who were helped on their way by an unlucky Raphael Framberger own goal. Despite this loss, Augsburg went into the festive period with 16 points on the board from 13 points, in 11th.
There was still one more game in 2020 for Heiko Herrlich’s side though. RB Leipzig travelled to Augsburg for the second round of the DFB-Pokal. The away side took the lead early on, and, even though FCA woke up after the break, the Champions League semi-finalists still won 3-0, meaning the Fuggerstädter ended the year with a defeat.
