FCA draw 2-2 with Freiburg

FC Augsburg’s double game week ended with another stalemate. Manuel Baum’s side kicked off the second half of the season with a scintillating affair – especially after the break – against SC Freiburg that ended 2-2, even though FCA led 2-0 at one point in the game.

During the week, Augsburg conceded a late goal in their 1-1 draw against Union Berlin, and Baum made three changes to the side from that game. Winter signing Yannik Keitel celebrated his FCA debut on Sunday afternoon, starting alongside Fabian Rieder and Han-Noah Massengo. Rodrigo Ribeiro, who only joined the club on Thursday, was also named in the squad for the first time.

The game had only just kicked off when it was interrupted by thick clouds of smoke. After that, FCA, who were unbeaten in their previous four home matches at the WWK ARENA, made a bright start to the encounter. Their first noteworthy opportunity came in the 20th minute. After Alexis Claude-Maurice’s delivery into the box from a free-kick, Keven Schlotterbeck forced SCF keeper Noah Atubolu into a save for the first time in the match. The game evolved into an intense, combative affair in front of 29,160 fans, with FCA winning the majority of their duels. Nevertheless, clear chances remained few and far between for both sides.

In the 32nd minute, the Augsburg players combined nicely to carve out a chance. A pinpoint cross from Robin Fellhauer found Claude-Maurice’s head, but Atubolu was equal to his effort. Two minutes later, Han-Noah Massengo tried his luck from an acute angle, before Dimitris Giannoulis’ shot from range sailed over the bar (38’). At the other end of the pitch, Freiburg had their best opportunity of the first half through Igor Matanović, who was millimetres away from connecting with a whipped ball into the box. In the eight minutes of added time at the end of the half, Claude-Maurice had another good chance and lined up a shot from the edge of the box which ended up going narrowly wide (45+6’).

Lightning-fast start to second 45, followed by sucker punch

The second half began with a two-goal combination from FCA. After an attack down the right-hand side, a headed clearance landed at Claude-Maurice’s feet, and the attacking midfielder let fly from 12 yards out. His shot took a deflection and rolled into the bottom right corner to make it 1-0 (47’). Just two minutes after that, Augsburg doubled their lead. Following a short corner routine, Fabian Rieder put in a cross towards half-time substitute Elvis Rexhbecaj who headed the ball powerfully into the top left corner (49’).

FCA’s celebrations were cut short, however. Just after the hour mark, Freiburg substitute Yuito Suzuki got one back for the visitors, volleying home spectacularly following a corner (60’). Two minutes later, the equaliser came from yet another set-piece. Gregoritsch initially stopped a shot from going in with his hand, before Matanović drilled the rebound home to level things up at 2-2 (62’).

The four quick goals set the stage for a thrilling final half-an-hour, with Mads Pedersen and Cédric Zesiger entering the fray for Augsburg in the meantime. In the 73rd minute, Patrick Osterhage tested FCA keeper Finn Dahmen, who managed to steer the ball away from the bottom corner with a strong hand. At the same time, FCA remained a threat with dangerous counterattacks. In the 79th minute, Freiburg thought that they had completed the turnaround by making it 3-2 through Derry Scherhant, but – fortunately for Manuel Baum’s side – Suzuki was found to have strayed narrowly offside in the build-up.

At the other end of the pitch, Claude-Maurice got another shot off from the edge of the box, though he was denied by a last-ditch block (86’). Ultimately, the scoreline remained 2-2 up until the final whistle, marking FCA’s second draw in a row.

Next week, Augsburg will take a trip to the titleholders in Munich. The away match against the league leaders will kick off at 15:30 CET on Saturday, 24th January.

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