Rexhbecaj: “We’re disappointed that we couldn’t take all three points”

Reaction from the 2-2 draw in the opening game of the Bundesliga season

FC Augsburg kicked off the new Bundesliga season with a draw against SV Werder Bremen. Both teams had to come back after falling behind. Here’s all the reaction from the 2-2 draw.

Elvis Rexhbecaj: “Both teams wanted to attack. That wasn’t easy, particularly in these conditions. Of course we wanted to score the first goal, but it’s also important to be able to come back. I was obviously really pleased that my shot went in and then Samuel added another straight away. We’re disappointed that we couldn’t take all three points. We were on top and there were two controversial moments that didn’t go our way. Now, we need to look back on the game and keep our intensity high, so we can go at it again next week and iron out any mistakes.”

Phillip Tietz: “We’re not happy. We had the lead, so it’s obviously disappointing that it finished 2-2. It’s true that the handball rule is complicated, but we had it all officially explained to us this week. There’s no doubt that we should have had a penalty. Sadly, nothing can be done about that now. We were a little too passive at the start of the game, so we have to do something about that. We dominated the game afterwards though and were the better team. I was pleased about that. Samuel and I complement each other really well up front too. You could see today that we were on the same wavelength.”

Samuel Essende: “This was a great start to the league season for me personally. Obviously, I’d have liked to have helped the team to win in front of our own fans with a second goal. I didn’t feel the ball touching my hand, but sadly the referee decided it had. The Bundesliga is a great league. We have to build on today’s match and keep going. I think we can get better, because we’ve got great quality that we want to show.”

Jeffrey Gouweleeuw: “We’ve got a point to kick off the season. Of course we wanted to pick up all three in front of our own fans, but, at the end of the day, every point is important. We weren’t good defensively for either of the two goals we conceded. We basically have a completely new backline, so it’ll take a bit of time. We’ll work on that each week so that we can all gel together perfectly. The referee’s decision about the ‘handball’ is frustrating, because we would have had a huge chance to win the game from the penalty spot. I’m disappointed by that.”

Jess Thorup (FC Augsburg head coach): “In the first half, we had some problems dealing with Werder’s movement. Then, Elvis made it 1-1 with a shot out of the blue, and Samuel put us ahead after that. Unfortunately, we didn’t win the game, definitely partly because of the controversial decisions. I haven’t yet seen a clear image that shows the handball Samuel’s goal was disallowed for, and we don’t even need to talk about the penalty situation. That’s a clear spot kick. We were told very clearly just a few days ago that the referee would give a penalty if the arm was out like that.”

Ole Werner (SV Werder Bremen head coach): “I have mixed feelings about the draw. On the one hand, I’m pleased with the way we played in possession from the start. On the other, we could have been more efficient. Both goals we conceded came from us losing the ball. We can’t let that happen. I don’t think we should have gone in behind at half time. Even though we equalised in the second half, Augsburg came at us with their physicality, which we weren’t able to deal with as well as we would have liked. Still, it’s always hard to get points on the board here, so we’ll take the draw.”