FCA lose 3-1 in friendly against Marseille

In front of 15,378 fans at the WWK ARENA

FC Augsburg faced off against Marseille at the WWK ARENA on Saturday in their final pre-season friendly, with the French top-tier side coming away 3-1 winners.

With temperatures reaching 30°C, there were plenty of activities on offer around the ground for the home fans in attendance as part of the ‘FCA family day’, and it was also the first day of the new menu at the concessions stand. Jess Thorup’s side were also sporting their new third kit for the first time, which had been well received since being unveiled a few days earlier, both online and in the fan shops.

Bildergalerie: FCA vs. Olympique Marseille

FCA, who were still without new signing Marius Wolf, had lots of defensive work to do in the opening exchanges. Marseille were working the ball around nicely and got their first good chance of the game after just five minutes. Fortunately, Nediljko Labrović came out on top in a one-on-one against Farius Moumbagna to prevent the opening goal. The keeper could do nothing to stop Luis Henrique’s well-placed effort in the 20th minute, however, which gave the French side the lead.

Labrović, who had put in a strong performance up to this point, now found himself picking the ball out of his own net just seconds later, as Mason Greenwood’s scissor kick flew into the left corner (21’). It would only be after this goal that FCA grew into the game, even if Marseille continued to prove resolute at the back. This continued until the 44th minute, when new FCA captain Jeffrey Gouweleeuw netted from Maier’s flat cross into the box to halve the deficit.

Chance for a leveller

Goalkeeper Daniel Klein and Tim Breithaupt both came on for the second half, and Phillip Tietz, Elvis Rexhbecaj and Mert Kömür entered the pitch shortly after. FCA took a more active role in the game after the break and had a great chance to level the scores in the 62nd minute – but neither Mads Pedersen nor Samuel Essende could get any contact on the agile Dimitros Giannoulis’ cross.

At the other end, substitute Klein put in a late challenge on Moumbagna, which resulted in the referee pointing to the penalty spot. Ex-Schalke player Amine Harit converted coolly to make it 3-1 (73’). Gouweleeuw almost scored a second in stoppage time – after Keven Schlotterbeck’s header was parried by the Marseille keeper, the Dutchman struck the woodwork on the rebound (90’+1). This was to be the final chance at the WWK ARENA, which was well filled with an attendance of 15,378.

It all properly gets going for FCA next Sunday (18th August, 13:00 CEST) as they begin their DFB-Pokal campaign. Thorup’s side face Viktoria Berlin of the German fourth tier and will look to progress to the second round.

FCA: Labrović (46′ Klein), Pedersen, Gouweleeuw, Essende (74′ Kabadayi), Maier (58′ Rexhbecaj), Giannoulis (74′ Koudossou), Mounié (58′ Tietz), Jakić (46′ Breithaupt), Jensen (58′ Kömür), Engels, Schlotterbeck

Goals: 0-1 Henrique (20′), 0-2 Greenwood (21′), 1-2 Gouweleeuw (44′), 1-3 Harit (73′)