Wagner's thrilling Augsburg overture: 2:0 in Halle

Sandro Wagner coached FC Augsburg into the second round of the DFB Cup with great passion on his head coach debut. In the Bundesliga club's 2:0 (0:0) win at Hallescher FC, the 37-year-old showed great commitment on the touchline with energetic gestures and was able to celebrate at the end of a surprisingly exciting match.

Steve Mounié (52nd minute) redeemed Augsburg with his goal in front of 14,000 spectators against the courageous fourth-division club. Samuel Essende (79') made everything clear with the second FCA goal.

Wagner fired up in the coaching zone

The pyro fog from the Halle block had not yet cleared when Mounié (1st minute) had a great chance to take an early lead. This would certainly have calmed Wagner's nerves. The former assistant to national team coach Julian Nagelsmann bounced around his coaching zone like he was on fire. He repeatedly gave loud instructions to his players and his hands kept going up for applause.

However, that could only be a sign of encouragement and not praise. Despite their superiority in terms of play, the Bundesliga side did not look compelling. Things even got really dicey for Augsburg. But goalkeeper Finn Dahmen (11/13) reacted quickly to save from HFC attackers Malek Fakhro and Serhat Polat. Later, Dahmen (43) had the presence of mind to save from Julien Damelang with a header from outside his penalty area.

And Augsburg? Mounié (23) got into another promising position, but Halle goalkeeper Sven Müller was in the way. Dimitrios Giannoulis (43) failed to hit the ball properly when he had a chance. Wagner certainly had a few words for his players during the break. And the speech had an effect: Mounié converted the first good chance this time with a header from close range.

Wagner continued to whirl on the touchline, literally getting stuck in himself. That was also necessary, as Halle did not let up and could have turned the game around again with more composure at the end. After a counter-attack, the substitute Essende made everything clear with his goal. Wagner knelt in front of the bench and showed his fist.