1-1 draw at home against Borussia Dortmund
FCA deservedly pick up a point in final home game of the year
FC Augsburg collected a point from their final home match of 2023 on Saturday afternoon. Borussia Dortmund were held to a 1-1 draw at the WWK-Arena in an entertaining game.
Head coach Jess Thorup made one change to the team that lost 2-0 in Bremen in FCA’s last game. Arne Engels was handed a spot in the starting XI, while Sven Michel and Arne Maier returned to the bench – Maier had recovered from his ankle injury to make the squad for the first time in two months.
A sold-out WWK-Arena saw the Fuggerstädter start brightly, though the visitors also threatened at the other end. Finn Dahmen saved Marco Reus’ shot (8’), before Ramy Bensebaini’s back-heel attempt narrowly went past the post (9’). It was FCA, however, who struck the first blow. Ermedin Demirović got the better of Nico Schlotterbeck and burst clean through, remaining calm to slot the ball past Gregor Kobel for 1-0 (23’). The captain’s eighth goal of the season looked to potentially be in some doubt as the referee consulted VAR, but the goal was given and the home fans were delighted. Although Dortmund were often sloppy in possession, they soon showed what they are capable of in attack. Donyell Malen finished off a nice move to level the game in the 35th minute.
Chances for both sides
The two teams took it in turns to be on top in the second half. Phillip Tietz missed two chances in the space of a minute for Augsburg (54’, 55’), while the impressive Malen came close shortly afterwards (65’). Both coaches made several substitutions to influence the game and those led to further opportunities in front of goal. Dahmen was on hand to keep out Malen (86’) and Füllkrug (88’), who was in an offside position anyway. That gave FCA the chance to steal the win in injury time, but substitute Ruben Vargas narrowly struck past the post (90+1’) and then fellow sub Dion Beljo saw his shot blocked (90+2’). With seven minutes of added time complete, the referee blew the final whistle, to great applause from the FCA fans, who were clearly happy with the point and their team’s performance.
Thorup’s team, who are now in 10th place with 18 points, have just one game to go in 2023. They will face high-flyers VfB Stuttgart away from home on Wednesday, 20th December (20:30 CET).
