Struggling Residents of Augsburg Fail to Comprehend the Regulations Anymore
FC Augsburg squanders advantage against Werder Bremen and subsequently confronts referee over perceived unfairness. According to Augsburg, they were misled following a pre-game rules discussion with referee Felix Brych.
Jess Thorup, the FC Augsburg coach, was displeased. "He" he fumed, "stole two points from us." The "he" referred to referee Sascha Stegemann from Niederkassel, who neglected to award a penalty to the home side despite a video review 13 minutes prior to the final whistle in their game against Werder Bremen. "That was a clear penalty. End of discussion," raged the CEO of Augsburg, Michael Ströll.
Ole Werner, coach of Werder Bremen, steered clear of the "investigative work" surrounding the incident, but the Augsburg supporters were left puzzled after Anthony Jung, of Werder, was allowed to control the ball with his outstretched left arm from a cross by the opposition. Stegemann, explained Ströll, viewed this as a "natural hand movement." Captain Jeff Gouweleeuw added that the referee claimed it wasn't a "clear handball."
What has upset Augsburg: Four days before the game, they had a rules briefing from referee Felix Brych - during which "it was unequivocally stated that referees would award penalties for such an extended arm position," reported Thorup, "what am I supposed to tell my players now?" He could repeat what the head of referees for the German Football Association (DFB), Knut Kircher, noted on Sunday on Sport1 "Doppelpass": "I would have preferred to have awarded a handball here."
Thorup had plenty to say, and there was, in fact, some positive news. Thorup praised new signing Samuel Essende, whom Augsburg had signed from Portuguese first division relegated FC Vizela. The 26-year-old is supposed to fill in for the team's top scorer, Ermedin Demirovic, who had been sold to VfB Stuttgart for a transfer fee of 21 million euros. "He put in an exceptional performance, he was always a threat," said Thorup.
Essende scored the opening goal to take the lead, making it 2:1 (35.). Previously, Werder's Felix Agu (12.) had made Augsburg's new goalkeeper Nediljko Labrovic look incompetent and Elvis Rexhbecaj had scored a stunning equalizer (25.) to level the scores for the hosts. But Werder kept pushing, with Justin Njinmah securing the equalizer, making it 2:2 (58.). Werner suggested that they could have been more ruthless, "we could have been more decisive."
Despite the penalty incident and the perceived unfairness during their game against Werder Bremen, FC Augsburg was still able to take the lead through new signing Samuel Essende. However, their advantage was short-lived as the opposing team scored two goals, one being from a questionable play involving extended arm position. Despite the referee's decision, Augsburg coach Jess Thorup believed that a penalty should have been awarded, as it was discussed during a pre-game rules briefing with referee Felix Brych.
