Fellhauer reveals Augsburg’s plan behind record-breaking goal against Bayern
| Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images |
Fellhauer needed just 8.4 seconds to punish a costly mistake from Manuel Neuer at the WWK Arena, breaking the previous record of nine seconds jointly held by Kevin Volland and Karim Bellarabi.
However, the Augsburg midfielder’s remarkable start was no coincidence, with the hosts having specifically discussed how to exploit Bayern’s approach before the match.
Speaking to Bild, Fellhauer explained how he was instructed to anticipate Bayern’s kick-off routine and prevent Alphonso Davies from blocking his run towards Neuer.
“We discussed very clearly before the game what Bayern’s kickoff routine would be: they would play the ball back to Manuel Neuer, who would then launch it forward. So my job in that situation was not to let Alphonso Davies block me off, but to keep running through and prevent the goalkeeper from playing the ball with ease.
“In this case, it worked brilliantly. I got past Davies relatively easily and then saw that Manu had let the ball get away from him a little bit. So I just tried to put him under as much pressure as possible and it worked.”
Augsburg’s preparation pays off against Bayern
Bayern played the ball back to Neuer immediately after kick-off, but the experienced goalkeeper was unable to deal comfortably with Fellhauer’s advancing pressure. The Augsburg midfielder capitalised on the loose ball, bypassed Neuer and finished into the unguarded net to give the hosts an astonishing early lead.
The goal ended the long-standing record shared by Volland, who scored for Hoffenheim against Bayern in 2015, and Bellarabi, who found the net for Bayer Leverkusen against Borussia Dortmund in 2014. Both had previously scored after nine seconds.
Despite the historic opener, Augsburg were unable to secure all three points, with Bayern fighting back twice to claim a 2-2 draw. Ismael Saibari equalised for the visitors before Rodrigo Ribeiro restored Augsburg’s advantage, only for Nathaniel Brown to level again in the closing stages.
