FC Augsburg
1-0 | Altintop | (6. Min) |
2-0 | Callsen-Bracker | (36. Min) |
VfB Stuttgart
2-1 | Ibisevic | (42. Min) |
Third league game, third defeat
Three games, three defeats! The Bundesliga hasn’t gotten off to the ideal start for VfB Stuttgart, with the third game of the season ending in a 1-2 defeat in Augsburg. Vedad Ibisevic’s striker could have been followed by an equaliser, had Ibrahima Traoré not been completely unduly red-carded.
Bruno Labbadia made both personnel as well as a tactical change, with Konstantin Rausch, Alexandru Maxim and Mohammed Abdellaoue getting the nod ahead of Cristian Molinaro, Martin Harnik and Cacau in a 4-4-2 formation.
Both sides made attacking starts, with Raphael Holzhauser firing in a shot (1‘), followed by an effort from Alexandru Maxim at the other end (2‘). With just six minutes on the clock though, the hosts were to make their breakthrough and take the lead through Halil Altintop.
Augsburg 2-0 advantage reduced by Vedad Ibisevic.
VfB failed to get their game flowing, with poor passing and easy loss of possession costing Bruno Labbadia’s men. FCA on the other hand were pacy in attack and regularly caused a threat but were often let down by the final ball. In the 36th minute, the final ball was then delivered from the right and Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker rose in the area to head home and make it 0-2. Just two minutes further on, VfB were lucky not to go further behind, when Jan Moravek hit the outer netting. Following a foul on Alexandru Maxim in the box, Vedad Ibisevic stepped up to fire home the resulting penalty and make the score 1-2 (42’) going into the half-time break.
Vedad Ibisevic: "We lost the game and that’s all that really matters." Post match comments
VfB raise their game but stunned by unnecessary red-card
For the second period, Austrian international Martin Harnik was brought in for Moritz Leitner. The first warning shot of the half was fired by Arthur Boka (53’), which rose the spirits of the 3,000 travelling VfB fans who managed to create plenty of noise. As the half progressed, VfB proved more stable on the ball, more present, determined and more exact in possession.
Ibrahima Traoré replaced Arthur Boka in the 63rd minute to add more bite to the VfB attack, as the visitors began to press even more – although the 30,300 strong home crowd saw their side look dangerous on the break. Then a shock for VfB in the 70th minute, when the referee issued a red card to Ibrahima Traoré for a completely innocuous tackle. The clearly incorrect decision was to decidedly weaken VfB and ultimately end any hopes of a comeback for Bruno Labbadia’s men.