FCA beat Schalke 3-0 to reach DFB-Pokal quarter-finals

Claude-Maurice, Maier and Essende find the net

On Tuesday evening, FC Augsburg beat FC Schalke 04 3-0 in their Pokal clash to book their place in the next round. Two late goals wrapped up the game for the hosts.

FCA head coach Jess Thorup made just the one expected change to the side that beat Dortmund 2-1 at home last time out, as Finn Dahmen replaced Nediljko Labrović in goal.

FCA were patient in the opening few minutes. Marius Wolf put an end to this cautious approach when he almost netted the opener from Dimitris Giannoulis’ ball-in (4’). A few minutes later, Giannoulis himself tried his luck, but his low effort fizzed wide (9’).

Schalke, who lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, struggled to make inroads into FCA’s penalty area, and gifted the Fuggerstädter a lot of room on the ball. In the 26th minute, it was Alexis Claude-Maurice who broke the deadlock, fresh from his double at the weekend. After good work from Frank Onyeka, Claude-Maurice let fly in the penalty area and placed the ball past S04’s Justin Heekeren.

FCA remained on top after the opening goal, and again and again tried to create chances and exploit the space with quick passing moves. They were unable to add a second before the break though.

Two subs strike

It was initially a different story in the second half. Neither side made any personnel changes, but the visitors started on the front foot and put the Augsburg defence under real pressure. The Royal Blues broke through FCA’s backline on a number of occasions, and even had the ball in the net in the 70th minute. Kenan Karaman nodded into the corner, but the flag was up for offside.

The hosts though regained control in the final phases. In the 87th minute, substitute Arne Maier went for goal with a free kick from range after a foul on Steve Mounié, and the ball was deflected onto the bar and into the net. Just three minutes later, fellow substitute Samuel Essende made it 3-0 to wrap up the game (90’).

FC Augsburg are now into the quarter-finals (3rd/4th December) of the DFB-Pokal for the first time since 2019. Thorup’s side are next in Bundesliga action on Saturday, 2nd November (15:30 CET).