Tietz: “The team spirit is immense”
Match reaction to the 2-0 victory against Union Berlin
A strong second-half performance from FC Augsburg saw them pick up a deserved 2-0 win and three points against 1. FC Union Berlin. Here is the match reaction.
Phillip Tietz: “It’s a great feeling when the final whistle goes and you’ve won. It wasn’t the best game of football, especially in the first half, but we knew that we needed to keep our focus and fight our way into the game. A goal from out of nothing then gave us a helping hand, because it meant Union had to open up, and that saw us get a few more chances on goal. You saw today just how much fun we’re having as a group, the team spirit is immense and something special is developing here.”
Sven Michel: “Of course, I’m pleased to have scored, but it’s always tough when you score against an old club. I’d rather the goal have come against another team, but that’s part and parcel of the game. It was anything but an easy game from the first whistle, and Union had the better of the chances in the first half. We were a bit lucky with the opening goal in that the defender made an error, but nevertheless, we’d made our own luck and took a deserved lead. I had a feeling we’d win this game – we’ll have to see how the rest of our season goes now.”
Tim Breithaupt: “I was pleased to have started the game. I left it all out on the pitch tonight. I wanted to help the team and am super happy that we won 2-0 at home and picked up another three points. We made it difficult for ourselves in the first half and made too many simple mistakes. But thanks to our fight and to our physicality in the tackle, we found ourselves in the game, and the early goal we scored in the second half really helped us. We kept a clean sheet, which is always good – now we move on to Frankfurt next week.”
Jess Thorup (FC Augsburg head coach): “There’s no better feeling for players and for the coach than a win in front of your home crowd on a Friday night. We weren’t at our best in the first half, the opposition defended well and only allowed us the odd shot on goal. At half time, I told my team to stay patient and that we’d get our chances eventually. We then took our big chance, even though the opportunity was a bit of a gift. We haven’t been so efficient in the last few weeks, but today we were. The most important thing after a game like this is to get the three points.”
Nenad Bjelica (1. FC Union Berlin head coach): “We played very well in the first half and had the opposition under control. There was no immediate danger in front of our goal, and that against an opposition who poses a real attacking threat. Then, there was a mistake that led to the opening goal in the second half, and that changed the game. We then had to open up more, which led to the counter that made it 2-0. On the whole, we gave our opposition too many chances to win the game today.”
