With a home win against FC St. Pauli, FC Augsburg refined its away coup against FC Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. With the 2:1 (1:1) on the 20th matchday against the “Kiez-Kicker” the FCA gains further breathing space in the table cellar.
“Winter break returnee” Michael Gregoritsch (41st, 59th minute) gave Augsburg its second win in a row after falling behind by Daniel Sinani (32nd, penalty kick) with his first goals after the 2-1 win in Munich. “Those were three important points. We are now four games unbeaten and we have worked for it“, stated match winner Gregoritsch on the sports show microphone.
With now 22 points, FCA in twelfth place only has eight points left of a direct relegation zone. Nevertheless, Augsburg’s coach Manuel Baum was not entirely satisfied in the Sportschau interview: “Two things stood out: the result and the fact that we turned the game around. But we have to talk about the rest on Monday because the performance was not what we imagined.“
FC St. Pauli (14 points), which once again had to struggle with its poor finishing (a penalty goal with an xGoal value of 3.29), will remain without a win in 2026 and, as second-to-last, already has a four-point gap to the relegation place. “We actually have to score two or three more goals and then have a chance of winning the game” St. Pauli coach Alexander Blessin argued in the Sportschau conversation: “We were too sleepy in some situations – including when we conceded goals.“
Sinani shoots at FCA goalkeeper Dahmen from seven meters
St. Pauli initially had the better playful moments going forward and had a great chance to take the lead after 13 minutes. Ricky-Jade Jones escaped behind the defense on the left and cleverly laid it across the goal. Sinani, who was running with him, was completely free, but didn’t get the ball clearly placed from seven meters and was denied by FCA keeper Finn Dahmen.
The action seemed to be a wake-up call for the hosts. Almost in return, Augsburg had their first big chance. Alexis Claude-Maurice ran towards the goal from half-left, shot the ball past goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj – but only hit the post (15th). A little later, Vasilj had to save against Gregoritsch (18th).
St. Pauli takes Penalty gift to
The game had picked up speed because St. Pauli never hid and Augsburg became a little more confident. The guests had the next big opportunity. This time, Joel Chima created space for Fujita on the left with a dribble and cut inside. Jones was free four meters in front of the goal, but obviously didn’t know how to process the half-high ball in such a short time and ended up pushing it towards the goal with his left shoulder. Arthur Chaves was able to step in and save for Augsburg (29th).
St. Pauli ultimately needed the support of the referee to take the lead. When Augsburg’s Marius Wolf slipped clear of Manolis Saliakas in the penalty area, the Greek fell over Wolf’s leg in the follow-up action. Stegemann decided on a penalty. And since the VAR didn’t intervene, Sinani got his chance from the spot.
Goalkeeper Dahmen suspected the corner, but the ball hit half-high next to the right post to make it 1-0 for the guests. That initially pulled the plug on Augsburg. In the next few minutes nothing came from coach Manuel Baum’s team. A shot from Fabian Rieder (38th), which went clearly over the goal from 18 meters, could best be described as the final result.
Augsburg’s Gregoritsch first hits with his head and then after solo
The Augsburg team also needed a standard for their goal. “Winter break returnee” Gregoritsch best anticipated the trajectory of a corner from Claude-Maurice and headed in from five meters to make it 1-1.
In the second half the game got tougher. Both teams tackled the duels energetically. Not much was achieved in terms of play, although St. Pauli tried much harder. But Augsburg’s Gregoritsch showed how to use his chances effectively. The loanee from Bröndby Copenhagen took a ball from the left into the penalty area and carefully shot it into the far corner to make it 2-1.
St. Pauli harmless and luckless in the end
St. Pauli tried really hard, but were terribly harmless and unlucky towards the goal. After another decent move, Mathias Rasmussen (72nd) had the next good finishing position in the penalty area – and only hit FCA defender Keven Schlotterbeck.
The guests continued to toil. In the final seconds of five minutes of stoppage time, substitutes Jackson Irvine and Abdoulie Ceesay had a double chance. But a block and a weak shot underlined once again that coach Alexander Blessin’s team simply wasn’t in Augsburg to score goals.
Augsburg in Mainz, St. Pauli against Stuttgart
The next important basement duel for Augsburg is on matchday 20. On Saturday afternoon (February 7, 2026, 3:30 p.m.) the FCA will be guests at Mainz 05. St. Pauli will first play in the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup against Bayer 04 Leverkusen on Tuesday (8:45 p.m.) and then welcome VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga on Saturday afternoon.
