For minutes after their next victory, the Augsburg football professionals around their rare player of the game Jeffrey Gouweleeuw celebrated the continuation of their climbing tour in the Bundesliga. In the unspectacular but mature and calm 1-0 (1-0) against promoted team 1. FC Heidenheim, successful coach Jess Thorup and his team were able to celebrate their third success in a row. The FCA is stalking the international starting positions with the “small series”, as sports director Marinko Jurendic said.
Most recently there was a 2-1 win against SC Freiburg and a brilliant 6-0 win in Darmstadt. Defense chief Gouweleeuw scored with a volley after a corner from Arne Maier in the 22nd minute in front of 30,660 spectators in the sold-out Augsburg Arena. The Dutchman said he was last able to celebrate a goal two years ago. “That’s not my job, but it’s nice. We showed a mature performance.”
“Ambitious but humble – that is the path we want to take together until the end of the season,” was Thorup’s brief before kick-off. In the first half of the season, the Dane celebrated a top debut with a 5-2 win in Heidenheim. In 18 games under Thorup, the Augsburg team scored 27 points. “Football is about winning. We have now won three times in a row,” Thorup summed up with great satisfaction.
Against Heidenheim, the increased self-confidence and the well-rehearsed processes were evident. The defensive triangle with the outstanding central defenders Gouweleeuw and Felix Uduokhai as well as clearer Kristijan Jakic in front of them also defused a number of Heidenheim’s offensive attempts.
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And going forward, the FCA game under Thorup is structured and goal-oriented. For once, the FCA success was also possible without a goal from captain Ermedin Demirovic (14 goals this season). The Bosnian international toiled in vain in the front line – and was happy after the victory: “It shows that we play extremely mature and grown-up and can get such dirty games over the finish line.”
Heidenheim’s best chance before the break was a shot from the fit-again Jan-Niklas Beste, which Finn Dahmen had difficulty saving (10′). The FCA goalkeeper was happy about his second clean sheet in a row. The home team looked for a decision in the second half in a concentrated and measured manner. However, goalkeeper Müller just used his body to direct a shot from Augsburg’s full-back Iago onto the crossbar (67′).
Heidenheim also launched some offensive actions. The feared crosses and free kicks that brought the 25-year-old winger into the orbit of the national team during the European Championship year did not have the usual effect. And at the back, the guests defended a set piece poorly when conceding a goal. “This can’t happen to us,” said coach Frank Schmidt, who left the stadium “angry”. Especially since the lucky punch to make it 1-1 was possible, for example when Florian Pick’s long-range shot was a bit too high (81′).
