Jess Thorup jokingly forgives Brentford loanee Frank Onyeka after big miss | OneFootball

A 0-0 draw with RB Leipzig in last night’s 2024/25 Bundesliga matchday 22 curtain-raiser essentially counted as a victory for Augsburg head coach Jess Thorup. Three consecutive draws puts the Bavarian Swabians 14 points clear of the promotion-relegation playoff place with 12 games remaining.

A 28-point-haul through 22 matchdays is a more than satisfactory haul for the small market club, which hasn’t relegated since attaining promotion to the top flight 13 years ago. The general “safety standard” of 35 points is within reach and a 14th straight Bundesliga season seems probable.

February, in comparison to the three straight wins that closed out January, hasn’t been as kind to the Fuggerstädter. Thorup’s team have only scored one goal in three league fixtures this month.

The shutout loss against Stuttgart in the DFB Pokal means Augsburg haven’t scored a goal in 277 minutes of football. No one has found the back of the net since Mert Kömür’s late equaliser on February 1.

Thorup laughed the grim realities off both in his post-match interview with DAZN and later at the post-match presser. For the FCA trainer, many positives outweighed this statistic.

Thorup pointed out that German keeper Finn Dahmen continues to thrive since reclaiming his No. 1 slot. In seven consecutive league starts since reclaiming his place from Nediljko Labrovic, Dahmen has kept an impressive four clean sheets.

Thorup also reserved praise for Finland international Fredrik Jensen, who has looked very strong in attack on the comeback trail from groin surgery. As for the player who could have scored the game-winning-goal, Frank Onyeka in the 81st minute, Thorup was quick to forgive.

The Brentford loanee – immensely popular with Bundesliga fans who refer to him as “Frank the tank” – has done a genuinely superb job this season.

“I just said in the locker room that I would take personal responsibility for practicing finishes with Frank next week,” Thorup told DAZN. “We have to score from such big chances. We could have won the game and a that’s an odd feeling, but I think – after some rest – I can live with a point.

“I’m very satisfied with Finn [Dahmen],” Thorup later added at the post-match press conference. “And [Fredrik] Jensen is now on a path back to the old Jensen, and I know what I get from him. In the 60-70 minutes for which he had energy, he did very well.”

GGFN | Peter Weis