From the start, Augsburg were clearly the dominant team against the newcomers. With aggressive pressing, they often won the ball in St. Pauli’s half. In the final third, however, the hosts were too imprecise for a long time.
It was only shortly before half-time that FCA became dangerous: first, Elvis Rexhbecaj shot just past the near post (43′). Then centre-forward Samuel Essende missed a huge chance when he appeared alone in front of the goal after a quick attack, but was unable to get the ball past goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj, who was already lying on the ground (45′).
Jess Thorup desperate
Augsburg coach Jess Thorup threw his hands up in despair and fell to his knees in despair at the missed opportunity. After the 4-0 defeat in Heidenheim, the coach had made major changes to his starting eleven before the international break and brought in five new players. These included the former Dortmund player Wolf, Ruben Vargas, who was actually looking to move, and Frank Onyeka. The Nigerian international was in the squad for the first time after his loan from FC Brentford in England and put in a strong debut performance.
St. Pauli started the Bundesliga year with a 0:2 defeat in Heidenheim and a 0:1 defeat against Union Berlin and was far from scoring their first goal of the season before the break. At least the defense remained stable at first, coordinated by Eric Smith, who recovered surprisingly quickly. The defense chief had reason to be happy before the match for more than one reason: the Swede had become a father to a daughter during the week.
After the break, however, Smith and his teammates were overcome. An Augsburg cross came via Essende to Wolf, who placed the ball on his left foot in the penalty area and skilfully curled it into the far corner. It was the 29-year-old’s first FCA goal. The guests complained about handball before the goal, but the video assistant declared the goal to be in line with the rules after a review.
Pauli takes advantage of Augsburg’s lack of utilization
After just over an hour, Tietz increased the lead to 2-0 by volleying in a long cross from Onyeka. Just moments later, it should have been 3-0 when Onyeka ran towards the opponent’s goal, but was unable to get the ball through to the unmarked Essende at the last moment. Immediately afterwards, Rexhbecaj was thwarted by goalkeeper Vasilj (70′).
The punishment for the missed big chances came when Pauli professional Boukhalfa headed a cross from Elias Saad into the goal (75th). Pauli pressed for the equalizer, but in injury time Kabadayi made everything clear.
