FCA come back to win 5-2 in Thorup’s first game in charge
First away win since 3rd October 2022
What a start for Jess Thorup! Despite falling 2-0 behind, FC Augsburg eventually celebrated a 5-2 win against 1. FC Heidenheim on Sunday evening. This was FCA’s first away win in over a year.
Thorup made four changes to the team who lost 2-1 against Darmstadt before the international break. Mads Pedersen, Sven Michel, Fredrik Jensen and former Heidenheim player Niklas Dorsch all came into the starting eleven, with Masaya Okugawa on the bench for the first time following a knee injury.
FCA set up with a back-four rather than a back-three in their first competitive game against Heidenheim, who have been strong at home recently. After a level opening period, Thorup’s side were caught cold. First, Tim Kleindienst tapped in from a corner to make it 1-0 (18’), before Jan-Niklas Beste swept home inside the box to double the home side’s lead seconds later (19’). FCA showed mental strength and pulled one back in the 29th minute. A Jensen corner picked out Phillip Tietz at the backpost, who guided a volley on target which was deflected into the back of the net. A first goal for the new signing from Darmstadt.
But that was not the end of the first half scoring, with FCA adding a couple of goals just before half time to go into the lead. In the 41st minute, Pedersen curled a brilliant effort with the outside of his left foot into the top-right corner, drawing the two teams level. Only a minute later and FCA had completely turned around the game, with Jensen drilling a ball low across the face of goal and Ermedin Demirović there to slide in at the backpost and apply the finishing touches.
Uduokhai and Rexhbecaj put the icing on the cake
The second half began with a strong last-ditch tackle from Dorsch, who slid in at the last moment to take the ball off Lennard Maloney’s toes (49’). At the other end, Tietz missed a chance one-on-one to add to the lead (61’), but it didn’t take too long for FCA to add to their goal tally. Again, Jensen floated a corner into the middle, and this time it was Felix Uduokhai who was free in the box to turn the ball home with his chest (62’). Elvis Rexhbecaj rounded the game off perfectly, clinically dispatching a penalty into the top left-hand corner in the 89th minute. The penalty had been given after Tim Siersleben blocked a Gumny cross with his hand.
This is the first time that FCA have come back from 2-0 down in the Bundesliga, and also the first time that they have scored five times away from home. The team have climbed up to tenth in the table and take on VfL Wolfsburg next Saturday (28 October, 15:30 CEST).
