Daniel Caligiuri shot FC Augsburg to three very valuable points in the Bundesliga relegation battle. The offensive player decided the high-intensity basement duel with favorite opponent Arminia Bielefeld with his beautiful goal (50th), with the 1-0 (0-0) FCA passed East Westphalia in the table.
The team of coach Markus Weinzierl is one point ahead of Bielefeld in 14th place in the table after the start of the 25th matchday and at the same time experienced something unusual in front of 19,460 spectators: In the 13th away game of the season Augsburg left the field as the winner for only the second time.
“We knew how important it is today. We didn’t come in so well, but we fought our way in. I think we were the deserved winners,” said match winner Caligiuri on “DAZN” and FCA keeper Rafal Gikiewicz added: “Three Points, we achieved our goal. The pressure is there. We have experience with situations like this. 26 points, now a game against Mainz at home. We have everything in our own hands.”
Coach Markus Weinzierl praised: “We did really well.”
Arminia, who are still waiting for a win after the eighth competitive game against Augsburg, are threatened with falling down to relegation rank on Saturday. For Frank Kramer’s team, a small winning streak ended after six home games without defeat.
Manageable level between Arminia and FCA
“The game will not be decided by the system, but by the attitude of the players” – Weinzierl’s requirement was taken very seriously by his players from the start. The FCA, but also the hosts invested an incredible amount in the duels. Caligiuri and Carlos Gruezo both saw referee Felix Brych’s guests yellow cards early on.
The game went as expected at a low level of play. The two teams with the least ball possession in the Bundesliga worked a lot with long balls, the central defenders were repeatedly challenged with headers.
The Kramer team, in particular, often looked for identification figure Fabian Klos at the top. The attacker, who was in the starting XI for the first time this year, tested FCA goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz for the first time after good preliminary work by the nimble Patrick Wimmer, but was ruled offside (18′).
Caligiuri hits worth seeing in the fall
It remained highly intense, there was hardly any flow of the game due to injury interruptions. National player Felix Uduokhai twisted his ankle in a duel with Wimmer and had to be replaced by Frederik Winther (33′).
After the substitution, the guests combined more often in the opposing penalty area. The flanks rarely found their target at first, but became more and more precise. With the best chance before the break, Gregoritsch missed the lead with a header (45 + 1).
Augsburg’s superiority continued shortly after the restart – and Caligiuri thundered the ball into the net. After a nice cross from Iago after a mistake in Bielefeld’s build-up play, the 34-year-old finished well in falling.
Bielefeld now found less and less access to the game, especially in midfield, the guests now had advantages and played them out cleverly. Only in the final phase did the hosts exert a little more pressure.