Augsburg ran riot against Schalke 04 at WVK Arena on Saturday, winning 3-0 in the opening match of the new Bundesliga season. The hosts were dominant from the first whistle, while Schalke looked shell-shocked by their visit to Bavaria. Three goals in the space of seventy-two minutes settled the contest before the interval had even finished.
M. Gregoritsch opened the scoring in the eighteenth minute, and to be fair, it was a moment that set the tone for everything that followed. Schalke's response was to absorb pressure rather than mount a challenge, which meant they sat deep and soaked it up. The yellow card for F. Rieder in the twenty-second minute came as the visitors tried to tighten things up, but it had little effect on the flow of the game.
The match turned in the sixty-second minute when R. Schallenberg was shown a red card, and by then Schalke's task had become impossible. The substitution of H. Kurucay in the sixty-first minute came too late to stem the tide, and Augsburg worked a short corner to extend their lead. Three more visitors were replaced in quick succession as the game slipped away from them completely.
A. Kade made it 2-0 in the seventy-ninth minute, and then R. Ribeiro added a third in stoppage time. Gregoritsch and Rieder were both taken off in the eighty-third minute, and the home fans were happy to see their players rested after such a comprehensive display. The final substitution saw M. Wolf brought on in ninety-first minute, but the result was never in doubt.
The statistics tell the full story. Augsburg created nine big chances compared to Schalke's three, and their expected goals figure of 3.52 matched the scoreline far better than the visitors' 1.54. Schalke had more possession at 53 per cent, but they had nothing to do all evening with it — fourteen shots against thirty-one, and only five on target. The red card meant Schalke were reduced to ten men for the final quarter, and they were overrun in midfield.
Augsburg move up to ninth place with 43 points from 34 games, while Schalke remain at the bottom with zero points from one match. This was a result that brought them together early in the season, and the draw brought them together early — but this was no draw. Schalke's recent form offers little comfort, having lost three of their last five outings, while Augsburg showed they are on a good run heading into the campaign.
