Ten-man S04 beaten by Augsburg in Bundesliga opener

Adamu starts, Dina Ebimbe on the bench

Head coach Miron Muslic made one change to the team that faced Hallescher FC in the DFB-Pokal last time out. Junior Adamu replaced fellow summer signing Junior Dina Ebimbe in the starting XI, with the former Frankfurt man dropping to the bench. There were no other changes to the squad from Monday night.

Big chances at both ends

The hosts had their first clear sight of goal with less than two minutes played. FCA broke quickly and found Anton Kade on the right, but Robin Fellhauer was unable to meet his low cross in the middle after Dejan Ljubičić did just enough to put him off. Schalke then had two excellent chances of their own in the sixth minute. Moussa Sylla raced onto a ball in behind, timing his run perfectly, rounded Augsburg goalkeeper Finn Dahmen and sent a shot towards goal, only for Chrislain Matsima to clear off the line. From the resulting corner, Soufiane El-Faouzi delivered another dangerous ball into the box and Ron Schallenberg’s header towards the bottom corner was kept out by a sharp save from Dahmen.

There were brief celebrations at the other end when Robin Fellhauer beat Loris Karius with a shot, but the Augsburg man was well offside as the pass to him was made (10’).

Schalke had made a bright start and created two more good openings after a quarter of an hour. Adil Aouchiche found Dejan Ljubičić to his right on the edge of the box and Finn Dahmen could only parry his shot back into the danger area. The ball fell to Soufiane El-Faouzi, who drove into the box from the right before sending in a low cross. Junior Adamu slipped as he tried to make contact and the ball flew over off his foot, with Aouchiche waiting behind him in a good position to shoot.

Gregoritsch turns home opener as S04 fail to take their chances

Augsburg did take the lead in the 18th minute. Anton Kade burst forward down the left and sent a waist-high ball across the box, where Michael Gregoritsch only had to stick out his left foot from close range to turn it home. Loris Karius was then alert to race off his line and beat Kade to a through ball moments later (20’).

Kade continued to pose the biggest threat for Augsburg and was involved again in the 29th minute. He collected the ball in what looked a very tight offside position, but his subsequent effort was saved by Loris Karius. Schalke then threatened through Moussa Sylla following a corner, although after Junior Adamu had laid the ball off, the striker was unable to trouble Finn Dahmen with his effort (34’).

S04 were beginning to see more of the ball by this stage. Moussa Sylla was played in again in the 41st minute, once more with the offside line extremely tight, before cutting the ball back for Adil Aouchiche, whose shot from around 20 yards rolled wide. Aouchiche tried his luck again from distance on the left in stoppage time, but his low effort was comfortably dealt with by Finn Dahmen (45’+1). Schalke therefore went into the dressing room trailing 1-0.

Schallenberg sent off

Neither side made any changes at the break and, as in the first half, Augsburg created the first chance. Fabian Rieder tested Loris Karius with a shot from 20 odd yards, which the Schalke goalkeeper tipped over the bar (46’). Karius was called into action again over the next few minutes. Anton Kade headed a Marius Wolf cross towards goal from 12 yards (47’), before Wolf himself tested the S04 number one with another header following a corner (48’). Karius was equal to both efforts.

Schalke remained very much in the game. Moussa Sylla failed to make clean contact with a long-range effort (55’), while at the other end Nikola Katic produced a well-timed sliding challenge as Augsburg broke forward with a numerical advantage. The move had continued despite Michael Gregoritsch catching Timo Becker in the build-up and leaving the defender on the ground (58’).

Miron Muslic made a triple substitution on the hour, introducing Maximilian Wöber, Robin Gosens and Junior Dina Ebimbe in place of Hasan Kuruçay, Vitalie Becker and Junior Adamu. Shortly afterwards, however, Schalke were reduced to ten men. Ron Schallenberg fouled Michael Gregoritsch as the Augsburg forward looked to break through on goal, and referee Sascha Stegemann showed the midfielder a red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. Stegemann judged Timo Becker to be too far away to provide sufficient cover (62’).

Augsburg add two more against ten-man Schalke

The hosts began to enjoy more possession with the extra man. Michael Gregoritsch directed a header towards goal in the 70th minute, but Loris Karius gathered comfortably. At the other end, Adil Aouchiche dribbled into the box and picked out Robin Gosens, who was unable to turn the delivery towards goal (71’).

FCA made good use of their numerical advantage and continued to create chances. Nikola Katic headed clear after Robin Fellhauer had a shot at goal (74’), before Gregoritsch sent another header over the bar a minute later (75’).

Edin Džeko replaced Nikola Katic for the final quarter of an hour, but Augsburg doubled their lead shortly afterwards. Schalke lost possession while playing out from the back and Fabian Rieder released Anton Kade. The attacker moved to his right as he approached the box before firing a low shot in off the inside of the post to make it 2-0 (79’).

Three minutes later, Loris Karius denied substitute Mert Kömür to prevent Augsburg from adding a third. The Schalke goalkeeper also kept out Noahkai Banks (85’). He was not required to intervene when Rodrigo Ribeiro met a ball first time inside the box, with the effort flying over the bar (87’).

The Portuguese forward did find the net in the second minute of stoppage time, however, scoring from a tight angle to complete a 3-0 win for the hosts.

FC Bayern next up

The Royal Blues’ first home game of the new Bundesliga season takes place next Saturday (5/9). FC Bayern visit the VELTINS-Arena for a 18:30 CEST kick-off.