Demirović 'doppelpack' and Hahn heroics help 10-man Augsburg overcome Schalke
Augsburg found themselves two goals up thanks to a Demirović brace, while Terodde and Krauss pulled Schalke level. Mergim Berisha was sent off as the Bavarian side appeared to have lost their control on the proceedings, until Andre Hahn's header secured all three points.
| Arne Maier. | Photo: FC Augsburg |
With their spirits buoyed from their aforementioned impressive victories, Augsburg hit the front inside 10 minutes to the delight of manager Enrico Maaßen. André Hahn’s deep cross from the right flank found Demirović in space who had time to settle and curl his shot into the bottom right corner whilst cleverly using Matriciani to short sight Schwolow. Just as the game approached the 20-minute mark and both Augsburg and Demirović swiftly doubled their lead. Breaking down the left wing this time, Berisha found the Bosnian forward in a central position who drilled home from 12 yards out with relative ease.
Just after the half hour mark and Schalke clawed a goal back to make it 1-2. Matriciani stormed forward taking the attack to Augsburg and found Terodde in space. A brilliantly worked one-two with Drexler left Terodde with a difficult finish but the German did brilliantly to find the net beyond the best attempts of Gouweleewu. It boiled over immediately after the restart when Terodde clashed with ‘Die Fuggerstadt’ playmaker Rexhbecaj – referee Schlager yellow carding the goal scorer who hauled the 24-year-old to the ground.
The only noticeable change after the interval was the introduction of Schalke’s Rodrigo Zalazar for Bülter in midfield. Van den Berg’s night was brought to an abrupt end minutes later after sustaining a heavy knock to the ankle requiring a stretcher. This didn’t drop S04 heads however as Kramer’s charges pushed for an equaliser drawing fine saves from Gikiewicz. Just after the hour mark, ‘Der Konigsblauen’ pulled level through Krauß. Drexler once more the provider while a slight deflection off Bauer lifted the ball out of Gikiewicz’s reach.
Augsburg had slowly relinquished their grip on the game as Schalke grew stronger. Matters seemed to worsen for Maaßen when Berisha was given his marching orders for a second bookable offense. Amazingly, despite being a player in arrears Augsburg regained their lead with 13 minutes to play. Gumny’s cross found the head of Hahn who glanced his past the rooted Schwolow making it 2-3. S04 substitute Karaman should have scored when left unmarked but failed to direct his header on target.
With a whopping seven minutes of injury time, drama ensued when Schwolow came forward at the death. The Schalke goalkeeper’s shot at goal blocked by substitute Jensen as Augsburg hung on for the win. Tempers flared at the death as Terodde and Gikiewicz came close to blows, while Polter and Fährmann voiced their thoughts toward the Polish keepers’ seemingly provocative actions after the final whistle.