FC Augsburg has left the Bundesliga relegation zone. The team of coach Enrico Maassen, who was criticized after three defeats in a row, won 1-0 (0-0) at Werder Bremen on Friday evening.
Ermedin Demirović (63') scored for Augsburg, who moved up to eleventh place before the other games of the weekend. Goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz saved a hand penalty from Marvin Ducksch in injury time. Bremen slipped to ninth place and are still waiting for their first Bundesliga home win in around 18 months and also missed out on a place in the European Cup.
Werder seemed anything but stable
As a relegation candidate, the Augsburgers did not appear in front of 41,000 spectators in the Weser Stadium for a long time. Maassen's team attacked the hosts high and early, provoking mistakes in Werder's defence. After eight minutes, Augsburg already had three chances. Florian Niederlechner (8th), who had circled Bremen goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka - but then missed the ball, missed the best of them. The Czech didn't have to endure more dangerous situations because he was substituted after half an hour due to a thigh problem. This is how Michael Zetterer made his Bundesliga debut.
As is so often the case this season, Bremen seemed anything but stable. Due to mistakes in the construction, Augsburg was repeatedly invited to counter-attacks, and the chain of three was not permanently safe either. Nevertheless, Werder stabilized and almost took the lead. Niclas Füllkrug's headed goal (31st) was disallowed after viewing the video images: Anthony Jung had previously blocked two opponents from offside in the penalty area.
Not a high class, but an entertaining game
It didn't develop into a high-class, but entertaining game. It had rained heavily before kick-off, which regularly provoked technical errors on both sides. Sometimes Werder were negligent, sometimes the ball jumped too far away for an Augsburger - which repeatedly resulted in precarious situations. However, both teams hardly created any clear chances. Until the Augsburgers had a brilliant moment.
Werder had already cleared an FCA corner and advanced when Carlos Gruezo played a superb pass behind the Bremen defence. Mergim Berisha only had to lay across to Demirovic in the centre, the striker sank from close range. A little later, Berisha almost made it 2-0, but his lob (76') hit the crossbar. It wasn't just getting heated up in the stands. Werder pushed for the equalizer - and was almost rewarded. Augsburg's farmer grabbed the ball in the penalty area, but Ducksch missed the penalty.
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