Jensen: “The best feeling in the world!”
Reaction after the win over Frankfurt
FC Augsburg picked up a deserved 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in a late Sunday evening game played in freezing temperatures. Here is the immediate match reaction.
Elvis Rexhbecaj: “It was a very strong performance from us. We started well and kept that up after half time. In the end, it was admittedly quite close, but we generally didn’t concede a lot of chances, so we ultimately deserved to win. We’re now unbeaten in six games. First, we’ll enjoy this evening and then from tomorrow we’ll be fully focused on Bremen!”
Niklas Dorsch: “I think that was the coldest I’ve ever been on the pitch here. But I have to pay the team a huge compliment for how we faced these conditions. We’d already trained in these temperatures during the week, so we knew what was in store for us. Moreover, we managed to impress in both halves. Of course, Frankfurt showed their quality on the ball again, but we countered that brilliantly. Especially after their goal, we gave everything and defended well. Now, we’re going to Bremen with a good feeling and positive energy from going six games unbeaten! On behalf of the team though, I want to thank everyone whose tireless commitment allowed the game to go ahead today.”
Finn Dahmen: “Even though I would have wanted to keep a clean sheet, the three points are the most important thing. It was unbelievably cold and I had a real problem trying to keep my hands and feet warm. A huge compliment to the groundsmen though, as the pitch was still great. Overall, it was a really, really good performance, both with and without the ball. We richly deserved to win, and if we’d scored the penalty, the game would probably have finished 3-0. The goal we conceded was very unlucky. I wanted to defend the ball across and then suddenly, it was in the net.”
Ermedin Demirović: “Thank you to all the fans who managed to get to us in the stadium. The game was obviously difficult, but we did brilliantly from the first minute onwards. We pushed ourselves to the limit and deserved to win in the end. You can just see that we’re a young and hungry team. Our confidence has come back after going six games unbeaten and we’re just enjoying it at the moment. We’re getting better from game to game and we have a clear plan. I’m happy I could help the team with two assists, but I’m disappointed to have missed the penalty. Luckily, it didn’t matter in the end.”
Fredrik Jensen: “As an attacking player, of course I want to help the team with goals, but a win is all that matters in the end – it doesn’t matter who scores. I haven’t thought much about my goal. When you see the net ripple, it’s the best feeling in the world. I was probably also the only one who was pleased about the weather. It felt like my home country – cold and dark.”
Jess Thorup (FC Augsburg head coach): “Firstly, I’d like to thank all the staff, groundsmen and fans who helped us to clear the snow off the training pitch and the stadium. It was our best game so far since I’ve been head coach here. We played out from the back bravely and our high pressing also worked really well. We worked on that intensively in the week. Of course, I was hoping that the penalty would give us some breathing room going into the final stages, but we deserved to win and I’m really happy about that. It’s going well at the moment, and we’ll do everything we can to keep it that way!”
Dino Toppmöller (Eintracht Frankfurt head coach): “Congratulations to Jess and FC Augsburg on a deserved victory. We started really well in the first ten minutes, but after that, we were non-existent until the missed penalty. Augsburg blew us away in every department, particularly in terms of the individual battles and mentality, and therefore deserved to take the lead. After the missed penalty, the team got a boost and after our goal, we tried everything to score the equaliser. Right at the end, we had a massive chance through Jessic Ngankam, even though the equaliser wouldn’t have been deserved on the balance of play.”
