Michael Gregoritsch and Anton Kade star as Augsburg sweep aside Schalke
Augsburg breezed past 10-man Schalke as goals from Michael Gregoritsch, Anton Kade and Rodrigo Ribeiro condemned the Royal Blues to defeat on their Bundesliga return after a three-year absence.
Augsburg 3-0 Schalke
Goals: 1-0 Gregoritsch 18’ (assist: Kade), 2-0 Kade 80’ (assist: Rieder), 3-0 Ribeiro 90’+2 (assist: Seol)
Red card: Schallenberg 62’
Fabian Rieder led Augsburg out as captain for the first time in the Bundesliga, while Timo Becker skippered Schalke on their long-awaited top-flight return.
Manuel Baum's side made one change from their DFB Cup win, with Calvin Brackelmann making his Bundesliga debut in place of the departed Keven Schlotterbeck, while Hennes Behrens also started for the first time in Augsburg colours.
Schalke boss Miron Muslić handed maiden Bundesliga appearances to seven players, including Moussa Sylla, Adil Aouchiche and Ron Schallenberg, with Edin Džeko named among the substitutes for his first Bundesliga involvement since 2010.
Frantic start, Augsburg strike first
The game exploded into life from the off. Kade set up Robin Fellhauer inside the opening minutes, but the Augsburg man could not convert from close range.
Schalke responded instantly as Sylla rounded Finn Dahmen, only for Chrislain Matsima to clear off the line, before Schallenberg forced a fine save from Dahmen moments later.
Augsburg also had a Fellhauer effort ruled out for offside before, against the run of play, they took the lead on 18 minutes. Kade beat Becker down the right and squared for Gregoritsch, who could not miss from close range to make it 1-0.
Red card turns tide
Augsburg started the second half brightly, with Rieder and Kade both testing Loris Karius early on. The decisive moment arrived on 62 minutes when Schallenberg was shown a straight red card for bringing down Gregoritsch, who was clean through on goal, leaving Schalke to play the remaining half hour with 10 men.
The hosts continued to push forward and Marius Wolf and Fellhauer both had efforts saved or blocked, before Rieder won the ball and released Kade, who let fly from distance and found the bottom corner via the post to make it 2-0 with 11 minutes remaining.
Augsburg made a series of substitutions as they sought to wrap up the points, with Ribeiro nearly adding a third with a volley that flew over. He was not to be denied for long, though: in the second minute of stoppage time, Youngwoo Seol released Ribeiro and the 21-year-old drilled home from a tight angle to complete the scoring.
Man of the Match: Anton Kade
Kade was directly involved in two of Augsburg's goals, setting up Gregoritsch's opener before scoring the second himself.
He also topped the home side's shot count with five attempts and registered the highest top speed of any Augsburg player, 33.92 km/h. It was little surprise that he was voted Man of the Match with 36 percent of the votes.
Bundesliga Match Facts
xGoals: Augsburg 3.55 - Schalke 1.26
Fastest player: Anton Kade (Augsburg), 33.92 km/h
Lowest goal probability: 3-0 by Rodrigo Ribeiro (Augsburg), 6 percent
Pass efficiency: Hennes Behrens (Augsburg), +2.67
Fantasy Heroes: Anton Kade (Augsburg, 341 Points), Michael Gregoritsch (Augsburg, 240 Points), Marius Wolf (Augsburg, 237 Points)
