Aachen cruise after Decker's early dismissal
Alemannia Aachen made light work of Ingolstadt 04 at the Audi Sportpark, running out 3-0 winners in the fourth round of Germany's 3. Liga. The visitors took control almost immediately after Elias Decker was sent off on the fourth minute, and they never looked back.Decker's red card changed everything. And here's the thing — it came after just three minutes when Danilo Wiebe had already been booked. By the sixth minute, Lukas Scepanik had opened the scoring, and Mika Schroers doubled the lead two minutes later. To be fair, Ingolstadt were playing with ten men but still managed a substitution in the ninth minute, bringing on Emre Gul in a desperate attempt to stay in the game. Louis Köster added a third goal on the eleventh minute, completing a hat-trick of sorts for the visitors, though he'd already scored twice by then.
The statistics tell their own story. Aachen dominated possession at 70% and registered 127 attacks compared to Ingolstadt's 68. They were twice as accurate in front of goal, hitting six targets from six shots on target. Ingolstadt had three attempts on target but couldn't find the net once. By then, the match was effectively over, but the hosts continued to fight despite being a man down.
Injuries and fatigue led to several changes in the second half. Matti Wagner and Danilo Wiebe came on for Ingolstadt at the hour mark, while Vinko Sapina replaced another player at 72 minutes. Köster was substituted at 80 minutes after his brace, and Gideon Jung received a yellow card in the same minute. Aachen brought on Frederik Carlsen at 83 minutes and made two more changes at 87 minutes, running down the clock comfortably.
The result leaves Ingolstadt in seventh place with five points from three games, while Aachen remain in tenth position with four points from three matches. Both sides have one win each in the early stages of the season, though Aachen's defeat record now stands at one loss. The visitors turned on the pressure after that early red card and took advantage of the situation completely.
