FCA fall to 4-1 defeat against Mainz

FC Augsburg suffered a 4-1 defeat at home against 1. FSV Mainz 05 on Saturday afternoon. The visitors were clinical in what was a hard-fought match, with FCA unable to match their output in front of goal.

Head coach Sandro Wagner made one change to his starting line-up following last weekend's defeat against FC St. Pauli, with Alexis Claude-Maurice making his return from injury. Keven Schlotterbeck has also made a return to full fitness and was named on the bench. The hosts were without Dimitris Giannoulis (muscular) and Anton Kade (ankle) against the 05ers. 

The visitors were able to get off to a strong start, as Paul Nebel and Arnaud Nordin were able to record chances early on. Mert Kömür was able to find Fabian Rieder with a free kick soon after, but the Swiss attacker's shot was blocked. Mainz were able to take the lead with their first shot on target of the afternoon, as Kaishu Sano powered home a shot from the top of the box (14'). 

Wagner's side looked to respond quickly, as Claude-Maurice attempted an acrobatic bicycle kick in the 20th minute that was parried by Mainz shot-stopper Robin Zentner. Six minutes later, Dominik Kohr was able to intercept a misplaced pass and weave his way through the FCA backline to double Mainz's lead. Claude-Maurice then went close again, as his effort in the 33rd minute went just wide of the right post.

The pace dropped slightly in the latter stages of the first half, although Mainz continued to carve out better chances for themselves. Augsburg failed to really threaten at the other end, and headed into the dressing room trailing 2-0. 

Four changes at half time

Wagner introduced four substitutes at the start of the second half, with Robin Fellhauer, Samuel Essende, Keven Schlotterbeck and Kristijan Jakić all coming on. The hosts soon found themselves with a man advantage as well, as Kohr was shown his second yellow card in the 53rd minute after a foul on Han-Noah Massengo. FCA were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box, which Rieder stepped up to take. His effort sailed just over the crossbar. 

However, Augsburg were unable to pose much of a threat in attack, even with their man advantage. Nebel was able to win the ball in midfield before slotting home FSV's third of the afternoon (60'). Essende had a chance to get one back following a corner, but saw his effort parried by Zentner at close range (62'). FSV then netted their fourth of the match, as Armindo Sieb finished from inside the box following a chipped pass from Nadiem Amiri (69'). Essende was able to get one back late on, beating Zentner in the 83rd minute to make it 4-1. 

Next weekend, FCA will travel to face 1. FC Heidenheim on Saturday, 27th September (15:30 CEST). 

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