FC Augsburg has taken a good step forward in its efforts to secure a place in European football competition. With a 2-0 (0-0) win against 1. FC Union Berlin, coach Jess Thorup’s Bundesliga team moved within three points of Eintracht Frankfurt in sixth place.
Thanks to the goal from Phillip Tietz, who took advantage of a serious mistake by Diogo Leite (47th), and the goal from former Berliner Sven Michel (81st), Augsburg also kept its chances in seventh place. This would entitle you to take part in the qualification for the Conference League if Bayer Leverkusen won the DFB Cup.
In a low-level game with many duels and many set-piece situations, chances to score were in short supply for a long time. And so the hosts’ lead wasn’t brilliantly combined, but rather the result of a completely unsuccessful back pass from Leite to goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow.
In fact, until this gross faux pas, the Berliners, who had only managed one win in the previous six games, had the best chance of the unexciting game. But Alex Kral couldn’t reach the ball after a sharp cross from Mikkel Kaufmann in the 27th minute. Augsburg was initially barely able to develop offensively; their constant efforts to create opportunities mostly had no effect. This was also due to the fact that 1. FC Union was very determined defensively. Tietz’s shot was in fact Augsburg’s first on Rönnow’s goal.
However, the goal initially did not revive the game. Little by little, however, Union dared to move forward a little more decisively in an effort to equalize – without developing any danger. Andras Schäfer had the best chance to equalize after Maximilian Bauer’s defense was too short: he had a free shot, but missed from a good 15 meters (68′).
The 2-0 was also preceded by a mistake by the Berliners: Kral lost the ball during the build-up to the game, Arne Maier served Michel wonderfully, whose goal counted after viewing the video images. “The most important thing in football is the result,” FCA coach Jess Thorup concluded and admitted: “But you can definitely play better football.”