Alexis Claude-Maurice became FC Augsburg‘s match winner at the weekend: in the home game against Borussia Dortmund, the Frenchman scored twice and thus played a significant role in the 2-1 win against the black and yellow. After the game, head coach Jess Thorup was full of praise for his protégé, whose performance was convincing regardless of the two goals.
“He came off the bench twice before and had a lot of impact with a goal and an assist,” said Thorup about the midfielder’s previous appearances against Borussia Mönchengladbach and SC Freiburg. “For me, he also works very well against the ball, and he had a very good relationship with Phillip Tietz: Immediately after the 2-1 goal, they both had great chances again.”
Claude-Maurice needed the confidence
Claude-Maurice’s performance hardly stopped the Dane from raving: “He played outstandingly. For him, it’s probably the best sign for him to build up his self-confidence again, because when he arrived here he hadn’t played football for three months. We tried to build him up as quickly as possible,” said Thorup about the player, who initially had teething problems and therefore had to wait a long time for his first squad nomination. “First he had to get into the game and into the team. But you could see early on that he could help us, but I had to wait for the right moment. This happened today and that’s exactly when he played outstandingly.”
In his three appearances, the player was able to collect a total of four scorers, although he only came off the bench in two appearances. With this self-confidence behind him, Claude-Maurice, whose individual class is unique in the Augsburg squad, should be an integral part of the starting eleven in the coming weeks.
LIGAINSIDER AVERAGE GRADE in the last FOUR years
