January: Niederlechner ends his drought
Review of the year 2021, part one
Club
23.12.2021, 14:00
As the new year comes in, FC Augsburg are taking a look back over the last 12 months. First up in the review of the year: January.
FCA spent the winter break 11th in the league, with 16 points from 13 matches. The players had very little time to take it easy over the holiday season, however. Because of the packed fixture schedule, the first game of the year took place on 2nd January away at 1. FC Köln.
Iago scored the decisive goal late on in a competitive contest to give the Fuggerstädter a 1-0 win and a perfect start to the second period of the season. Another reason for celebration was André Hahn coming off the bench. He returned to the action after recovering from Coronavirus.
Civeja makes his Bundesliga debut in Bremen
A successful start was followed by something of a dampener. FCA lost their first home match after the restart 4-1 against VfB Stuttgart, and to top it all off, Marco Richter was sent off after a second yellow card close to the end. Augsburg also came away from SV Werder Bremen empty handed. Without assistant coach Iraklis Metaxas and goalkeeping coach Kristian Barbuscak, who both contracted Covid-19, FCA lost 2-0 after two late goals. The one silver lining was a Bundesliga debut for home-grown talent Tim Civeja who came off the bench late on.
Gallery: 20211221_Jahresrückblick_Januar
Just four days later came the final fixture in the first half of the season as FC Bayern made the short trip to Augsburg. The record champions took the lead, but FCA stayed in the game and had a big chance to equalise in the latter stages. Alfred Finnbogason hit the post from the penalty spot, however. It was the first time that the Icelandic forward had failed to convert a penalty in the Bundesliga.
Niederlechner with a brace against Union
FCA didn’t have a lot of time to think about their missed opportunity, as 1. FC Union Berlin were the second opponents in a week. Florian Niederlechner ended his goalscoring drought against the Berlin side, scoring his first two goals of the season in a 2-1 victory. Rafał Gikiewicz also received plaudits after he saved a penalty against his former club to hang on to the three points.
This win was also followed by a defeat. FCA went ahead early away at Borussia Dortmund, but BVB turned things around in the second half to secure a 3-1 win.
