7th matchday
Darmstadt plunges Augsburg coach Maaßen into job distress
Tim Skarke gave SV Darmstadt 98 the lead against FC Augsburg. photo
© Daniel Löb/dpa
FC Augsburg suffered their first home defeat against newly promoted Darmstadt. The rebellion after the 0:2 no longer led to a turnaround. What happens now?
A dream goal from Tim Skarke and a Darmstadt penalty have coaches Enrico Maaßen was in trouble at FC Augsburg.
After the 1:2 (0:0) against the improved Bundesliga newcomer, it remains to be seen how the FCA decision-makers react to the negative performance in the first home defeat of the season during the international break. Managing director Michael Ströll had written in the stadium courier in the foreword to the game about a “duty” to “land a victory”.
Maaßen’s team was a long way from that in front of 29,200 spectators after 70 minutes at the latest. Darmstadt’s attacker Luca Pfeiffer shot the ball onto the crossbar. Skarke reacted wide awake and hammered the follow-up shot under the crossbar from a tight angle in the 52nd minute. Tobias Kempe made it 2-0 for the guests 18 minutes later from the penalty spot after substitute Arne Maier fouled Fabian Nürnberger.
The FCA did not give up, fought and ran. But despite eight minutes of stoppage time, it wasn’t enough for captain Ermedin Demirovic (86th) to score more than the goal. Darmstadt celebrated its second win in a row and moved past FCA (5) with seven points.
Being behind, Augsburg missed a few chances to score before the score was 1-2. Demirovic lofted the ball over the goal (64′). Substitute Max Pedersen hit the post (77th).
The Darmstadt team, inspired by the 4-2 win against Bremen, were the better of two limited teams in terms of football. What the newcomer was still missing in the first half, which was characterized by idle phases, was effectiveness in the few but good chances. The biggest was missed by Marvin Mehlem, who shot at the Augsburg goalkeeper completely free in front of the goal in stoppage time after a major mistake by Finn Dahmen. The agile Tim Skarke, Tobias Kempe and Matthias Bader had further good finishing opportunities for the guests. But they didn’t hit either.
And Augsburg? Maaßen did not send a courageous line-up signal with a three-man chain and eight more defensive players in the starting line-up. Fluid combinations were hardly possible and actions in the penalty area were in short supply. However, there was a great opportunity early on. Robert Gumny, who came into the team to replace Kevin Mbabu, who was injured during the warm-up, crossed precisely from the right wing to his full-back colleague Iago. But the Brazilian headed unchallenged far past the goal (8th).
Even after falling behind in the second half, Maaßen’s team showed morale. The switch to a four-man defense had a positive effect on the offensive game. But the rebellion only led to the connecting gate. The Darmstadt team defended successfully with commitment and luck until the final whistle. “Away win,” chanted the fans who had traveled with us.