Augsburg overcome battling Darmstadt

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FC Augsburg coach Dirk Schuster saw his team collect their first home win of the season but they were made to work hard for the three points by ten-man SV Darmstadt 98.

FC Augsburg 1-0 SV Darmstadt 98

Goals: 1-0 Finnbogason (46')

Red card: Guwara (45+3')

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The first chance of the game fell to Darmstadt’s Florian Jungwirth, but his long-range effort flew wide of Marvin Hitz’s goal. Augsburg enjoyed the majority of possession as the game progressed but for all their enterprise were unable to break down a well-organized Darmstadt’s defence. The home side were restricted to set-pieces with Kostas Stafylidis’ going close from a direct free-kick. Then Alfred Finnbogason slalomed through Darmstadt defence, but his close range shot was well saved by Michael Esser, who also had his wits about him to stop Jonathan Schmid’s shot from the edge of the box. On then stroke of half-time, Darmstadt were left facing an uphill struggle after Leon Guwara was sent off after picking up a second yellow card.

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Straight after the re-start, Augsburg made their numerical advantage pay as Finnbogason finally broke the deadlock. The Icelandic striker rose highest to plant home a wonderful cross by Ja-Cheol Koo. Sensing further goals, Augsburg poured forward and had several chances to put the match to bed. But Darmstadt keeper Esser kept his side in the game with a save from Koo’s close-range header. Gojko Kacar’s long-range effort from 30 yards out just missed the net by a whisker and Stafylidis hit the side netting just before the final whistle. In the end, the home side had to settle for a 1-0 win after utterly dominating in the second half.

Man of the Match

Not only did Alfred Finnbogason score the goal that decided the match, but the Icelandic striker also kept Darmstadt’s defence busy all day.

Talking Point

There were no late goal heroics this time around for Darmstadt as they came up against their former coach Dirk Schuster. The Lilies continue to look for their first victory away from home this season.

Match Stats

    Raul Bobadilla had the most ball contacts (35) and was involved in Augsburg’s three shots on goal, before being substituted with an injury in the first half.Augsburg took the lead in a match for the first time season.Finnbogason has scored half of his Bundesliga goals via headers (four out of eight).

Line-ups

Augsburg: Hitz – Verhaegh (c), Gouweleeuw, Hinteregger, Stafylidis – Kacar, Baier (90' Jancker) – Koo, Bobadilla (34' Schmid [87' Altintop]), Ji – Finnbogason

Coach: Dirk Schuster

Darmstadt: Esser – Jungwirth, Höhn, Milosevic, Guwara – Heller, Niemeyer (86' Ben-Hatira), Gondorf (c), Bezjak (46' Holland) – Kleinheisler (46' Sirigu) – Colak

Coach: Norbert Meier