Schalke 04’s long-awaited return to the Bundesliga ended in disappointment as Augsburg secured a convincing 3-0 victory on Matchday 1. Michael Gregoritsch opened the scoring towards his former membership earlier than Anton Kade doubled Augsburg’s lead, with Rodrigo Ribeiro finishing the win late on.
Match report
There was a fierce battle for the opening purpose as Schalke returned to the Bundesliga away at Augsburg.
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Both groups created promising alternatives throughout the opening quarter-hour, with Augsburg’s Robin Fellhauer and Schalke’s Ron Schallenberg going closest. However, each goalkeepers – Loris Karius for Schalke and Finn Dahmen for Augsburg – made necessary saves to maintain the rating degree.
The impasse was lastly damaged after 18 minutes. Anton Kade delivered an excellent outside-of-the-foot cross into the field, discovering former Schalke striker Michael Gregoritsch completely. The Austrian had little problem ending from shut vary to place Augsburg 1-0 forward.
The hosts took management for the rest of the primary half and created a number of extra probabilities, however had been unable so as to add a second purpose earlier than the break.
The second half continued at a excessive tempo, with each groups remaining closely concerned. Despite being newly promoted and trailing, Schalke even loved extra possession – a attribute that has rapidly turn out to be related to head coach Miron Muslic’s method.
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However, Schalke’s job turned significantly harder in the 62nd minute. Schallenberg caught Gregoritsch on the ankle from behind throughout a problem and was proven a straight pink card. The determination was justified, leaving the guests with ten males for the rest of the match.
Augsburg instantly appeared to reap the benefits of their numerical superiority and commenced pushing for the decisive second purpose.
It arrived in the 79th minute, with Kade as soon as once more at the centre of consideration. The 22-year-old acquired the ball from Fabian Rieder earlier than reducing inside and curling an unstoppable effort previous Karius, with the ball hitting the within of the publish earlier than discovering the web.
Kade’s efficiency was significantly noteworthy given current reviews linking him with a possible Germany call-up underneath new head coach Jürgen Klopp. Germany’s head coach was in the stadium for the match.
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There was, nonetheless, a particular second for Schalke earlier in the second half. Edin Džeko made his long-awaited Bundesliga comeback, returning to Germany’s prime flight after 5,734 days away from the competitors.
Augsburg in the end put the end result past any doubt shortly earlier than the ultimate whistle. Substitute Rodrigo Ribeiro fired house from a decent angle to make it 3-0 and provides coach Manuel Baum a memorable birthday current.
The closing whistle confirmed a dominant begin to the marketing campaign for Augsburg, whereas Schalke’s Bundesliga comeback ended with a sobering defeat.
Final rating: Augsburg 3-0 Schalke 04.