With a stroke of genius, St. Pauli turns the game and continues climbing
FC St. Pauli remains the team of the moment in the second division under its new coach. Hamburg won after going behind with a late goal in Magdeburg. Fürth put a damper on Düsseldorf’s promotion ambitions. Hannover 96 also failed to win.
Dhe wonderful journey of FC St. Pauli under its new coach Fabian Hürzeler continues. With the 2-1 (0-1) win at 1. FC Magdeburg, the second division team from Hamburg celebrated their fourth win in their fourth game under the direction of the 29-year-old. Jackson Irvine’s header (74′) and Jakov Medic (88′) turned the game around after Baris Atik (39′) put the hosts ahead in front of a crowd of 24,278. With 29 points, Hamburg improved to eighth place.
“I’m happy that my team showed morale and had faith in themselves,” said Hürzeler after a good and intense second division game. At half-time, his team resolved to continue down this path full of conviction. Hürzeler: “We were then very present and consistent in the box and played it well to the end in the last third.”
Fourth game, fourth win: St. Pauli’s coach Fabian Hürzeler knocks at the top with his team
Source: dpa/Christian Modla
St. Pauli’s coach had to rebuild his team compared to previous games. Jannes Wieckhoff came on on the right-hand side for the suspended Manolis Saliakas. In the center of defense Betim Fazliji replaced the recently strong Eric Smith. The Swede had to sit out at short notice due to muscular problems.
Hamburg had the better start to the game. In the 13th minute, Connor Metcalfe, who had already scored the winning goal against 1. FC Kaiserslautern, put the ball just wide after good preparation by Oladapo Afolayan. Hürzeler: “We played what we set out to do.”
Magdeburg, the weakest team in the league at home, remained dangerous. Moritz Kwarteng tested the St. Pauli goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj (17th) after a counterattack. As a result, the dribbling strong Atik in particular presented the guests’ defense with some problems. So it was not surprising that the 28-year-old attacker gave Magdeburg the lead with a fine flick from the edge of the penalty area.
Early in the second half, Hürzeler brought on attacker Maurides to have a target player on offense. The Kiezkicker’s Brazilian winter signing had their first notable opportunity with a header (55′), but it was safely thwarted by Magdeburg keeper Dominik Reimann. In the 72nd minute, Maurides fired the ball well over the goal from about six yards out.
Irvine did better, heading home a deserved equalizer from a Leart Paqarada corner. St. Pauli stayed on the offensive and was rewarded with Medic’s winning goal, which Marcel Hartel had prepared perfectly. The defender ventured into the opponent’s penalty area because of a set piece – and demonstrated his technical qualities there.
Aches double pack to victory in Fürth
A brace from Ragnar Ache gave SpVgg Greuther Fürth the deserved sense of achievement and inflicted a setback on Fortuna Düsseldorf in the 2nd Bundesliga. The Franconians won 2-1 (1-0) in front of 9804 spectators on Saturday and pulled away from the rear ranks.
Ache headed in a Max Christiansen cross from seven yards out in the 28th minute. After a template by the dynamic Tobias Raschl, the striker from Fürth raised his foot after the break (57th). Christiansen even missed the 3:0 (63rd) when he hit the post. Düsseldorf’s joker Kristoffer Peterson, on the other hand, made the game exciting again with his goal (67th). After the yellow-red card against Jordy de Wijs (90+4), Fortuna ended the game outnumbered.
The Fürth coach Alexander Zorniger made five changes after the 2-1 draw against Karlsruher SC – and the new starting staff made a strong impression. However, the Franconians were not necessarily in their actions until the opening goal. Although the Düsseldorfers were committed, they were hardly able to score goals against better hosts overall.
Disputed penalty in Hanover
After three defeats in the second half of the season in the second Bundesliga, SSV Jahn Regensburg missed the longed-for liberation in the relegation battle at home against Hannover 96. With a wonderful volley from 16 meters, Cedric Teuchert (88th minute) saved Lower Saxony from a draw with the Upper Palatinate shortly before the end. After the 1-1 (1-0) on Saturday, the Regensburgers are second to bottom in the table for the time being.
Sarpreet Singh (15th) had brought coach Mersad Selimbegovic’s team into the lead in front of 8112 spectators. Bright Arrey-Mbi failed to clear a cross from Leon Guwara in the box with a heel. Ron-Robert Zieler (55′) then kept the Hanoverians in the game with a saved penalty from Andreas Albers, who may have been fouled by Sei Muroya.
“We had this momentum in the 16, where Andreas did it cleverly, but then unfortunately didn’t stay calm until the end and converted the penalty,” said Selimbegovic, who spoke of an “enthralling game”. “That’s how you keep the opponent in the game, they have enough quality and a plan.”
The commitment of the Regensburg voted. But there were chances on both sides. Cologne goalkeeper Jonas Urbig excelled a few times at Jahn, who also had more of the game in the first half. The guests from Lower Saxony only put more pressure on when Sebastian Ernst came on. Ernst failed in the 69th minute with a free-standing header from close range against the post.
Then Teuchert struck. Selimbegovic described the goal as a “Sunday shot on Saturday afternoon”. “In a phase like this, you can give this game completely out of hand, but we continued to play forward,” the Jahn coach praised his players and said, with a view to an end to the series of failures: “It was a good start, although it is annoying. We are there, believe in ourselves, fight and fight for every ball and centimetre. That’s the recipe.”
