DSC Arminia Bielefeld played host to FC Augsburg at the SchücoArena on a cold Wednesday evening. The mid-week Matchday 12 encounter was once again held behind closed doors as Germany enters another nationwide COVID-19 lockdown on the same day. The visitors won the match courtesy to a late goal by Jeffrey Gouweleeuw.

Newly-promoted Bielefeld had a difficult start to the 2020-21 season, but head coach Uwe Neuhaus sounded optimistic ahead of the home fixture. “We have left behind a difficult phase and we have performed well at home against Mainz, but we couldn’t deliver up-front against Freiburg. We need to remember the good things and we need to recollect that we can do it,” said Neuhaus.

FC Augsburg head coach Heiko Herrlich said: “We are aiming to be brave and and play confidently on Wednesday. They (Bielefeld) conceded a few losses recently. But they have certain qualities and we should not underestimate them.”

Augsburg dominated the first half which was a quite eventless affair, while Herrlich’s side managed to keep control of the midfield. Marco Richter (2′) had an opportunity to give Augsburg an early lead, but his shot was blocked by Bielefeld defender Cedric Brunner.

Just four minutes later, Bielefeld had their first attempt on target when Japan international Ritsu Doan tested goalkeeper Rafał Gikiewicz. Sven Schipplock (24′) and Doan (30′) had two more scoring opportunities, but the their attempts lacked precision and were easily cleared by the Augsburg defence.

The second half continued to be an arduous one as both sides didn’t impress with their attacking skills and attempts on boths sides were wasted easily.

The match would have deserved a goalless draw, but Augsburg captain Jeffrey Gouweleeuw found the back of the net with a left-footed shot in the 85th minute. The Dutchman calmly put a cross from Daniel Caliguri past Bielefeld’s helpless goalkeeper Stefan Ortega Moreno.

DSC Arminia Bielefeld 0-1 FC Augsburg

Goals
0-1 Jeffrey Gouweleeuw (85′)

Line-up

DSC Arminia Bielefeld
Ortega – Brunner, van der Hoorn, Nilsson (77′ Lucoqui), de Medina – Doan, Kunze, Hartel (88′ Müller), Cordova – Klos, Schipplock (70′ Gebauer)

FC Augsburg
Gikiewicz – Framberger (59′ Gumny), Gouweleeuw, Oxford, Uduokhai – Caligiuri, Khedira, Richter (59′ Finnbogason), Strobl, Gruezo – Gregoritsch (72′ Vargas)

Bookings

Yellow Card
19′ Fabian Kunze (DSC Arminia Bielefeld)
45’+1′ Raphael Framberger (FC Augsburg)
80′ Carlos Gruezo (FC Augsburg)

Match Officials

Referee
Patrick Ittrich

Assistant Referees
Sascha Thielert, Robert Wessel

Fourth Offical
Frank Willenborg

Video Assistant Referees
Bibiana Steinhaus, Markus Schüller