FC Augsburg defeated 1. FSV Mainz 05 2-1 (1-0) in the basement duel of the Bundesliga on Saturday (September 23rd, 2023) and has temporarily freed itself from the bottom of the table. Mainz 05, on the other hand, remains bottom of the table with just one point.
Ludovic Ajorque (6th) gave Mainz an early lead. Ermedin Demirovic turned the game in Augsburg’s favor with a brace (15th/45th). The hosts presented themselves incredibly effectively and took advantage of the few chances they had. The guests, on the other hand, showed far too little, especially offensively.
Demirovic with a brace
The basement duel started unexpectedly offensively: Ajorque headed Mainz into the lead with the first good cross. And the guests held on – a goal from Stefan Bell was disallowed for offside. Augsburg had big problems, but came out of nowhere to equalize. Demirovic took advantage of the hosts’ first opportunity.
Mainz seemed shocked, FCA now seemed much safer. But there were no great opportunities for the time being. After around 30 minutes the game was at a manageable level with many bad passes. Both Augsburg and Mainz avoided the final risk offensively. Fittingly, a standard brought success: Patric Pfeiffer extended a long throw-in into the middle, where Demirovic was lurking and nodded in to take the lead.
Augsburg defends while outnumbered
The second half started much quieter than the first half. Augsburg had a slight advantage on the field, but there was no danger on either side. After an hour, referee Marco Fritz came to the fore: After Engels hit Aymen Barkok hard, the referee looked at the foul on the video screen and sent the Augsburg player off the field with a red card.
When outnumbered, FCA relies primarily on strong defense and counterattacks. Mainz pressed for the equalizer: Jeffrey Gouweleeuw cleared a header from Leandro Barreiro off the line. The hosts survived the short period of pressure unscathed. Afterwards, Augsburg did well, often letting Mainz have the ball in midfield – but FCA were always there in the final third. In the final minute, Finn Dahmen had to intervene again in the FCA goal, but held on to the success.
Mainz hosts Leverkusen and Augsburg visits Freiburg
Mainz will host Bayer 04 Leverkusen on matchday 6 (Saturday, September 29, 2023 at 3:30 p.m.). Augsburg is challenged in Freiburg a day later (5:30 p.m.).