The contrast could not be greater. The relieved Augsburgers brought their children out onto the pitch and celebrated their first win of the season together. On the other hand, St. Pauli coach Alexander Blessin talked to his Kiezkickers, who still had no points. FC Augsburg beat the initially harmless promoted team from Hamburg 3-1 (0-0) thanks to goals from Marius Wolf (47th minute), Phillip Tietz (67th) and Yusuf Kabadayi (90th+5). While FCA moved up into the middle of the table on the third matchday, St. Pauli still has zero points and is therefore in the relegation zone. Carlo Boukhalfa’s goal (75th) was not enough for the Hanseatic club.
“We did well in the first half, we just needed a goal. We really wanted to win,” said goalscorer Wolf. Hamburg coach Blessin was particularly dissatisfied with the first half: “It was a forgettable one.” Augsburg “took the courage out of his team. We can take the second half and take it with us, there were some good things there.” Pauli goalscorer Boukhalfa, on the other hand, was inconsolable. “Brutal, frustrating, we came back well and then conceded the goal. We played too much backwards, we lacked the courage.”
From the start, Augsburg were clearly the dominant team against the newcomers. With aggressive pressing, they often won the ball in St. Pauli’s half. In the final third, however, the hosts were too imprecise for a long time.
It was only shortly before half-time that FCA became dangerous: first, Elvis Rexhbecaj shot just past the near post (43′). Then centre-forward Samuel Essende missed a huge chance when he appeared alone in front of the goal after a quick attack, but was unable to get the ball past goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj, who was already lying on the ground (45′).
Jess Thorup desperate
Augsburg coach Jess Thorup threw his hands up in despair and fell to his knees in despair at the missed opportunity. After the 4-0 defeat in Heidenheim, the coach had made major changes to his starting eleven before the international break and brought in five new players. These included the former Dortmund player Wolf, Ruben Vargas, who was actually looking to move, and Frank Onyeka. The Nigerian international was in the squad for the first time after his loan from FC Brentford in England and put in a strong debut performance.
After the break, the long-overdue lead: An Augsburg cross came via Essende to Wolf, who placed the ball on his left foot in the penalty area and skilfully curled it into the far corner. It was the first FCA goal for the 29-year-old. The guests complained about handball before the goal, but the video assistant declared the goal to be in line with the rules after a review.
Pauli takes advantage of Augsburg’s lack of utilization
After just over an hour, Tietz increased the lead to 2-0 by volleying in a long cross from Onyeka. “It’s always difficult when new players arrive. We have a great bunch in the dressing room who really fire the boys up. The team structure is great, the boys feel really comfortable,” said Tietz. Just moments later, it should have been 3-0 when Onyeka ran towards the opponent’s goal, but at the last moment he was unable to get the ball through to the unmarked Essende. Immediately afterwards, Rexhbecaj was thwarted by goalkeeper Vasilj (70′).
The punishment for the missed big chances came when Pauli professional Boukhalfa headed a cross from Elias Saad into the goal (75th). Pauli pressed for the equalizer, but in injury time Kabadayi made everything clear.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240915-930-233248/4
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