FC St. Pauli

Head coach Ewald Lienen made four changes to the side that lost 1-0 at Erzgebirge Aue. Aziz Bouhaddouz returned from suspension and Cenk Sahin was passed fit after recovering from flu. Kyoungrok Choi also got the nod, as did Bernd Nehrig after shaking off a tight thigh muscle. Lennart Thy, Jan-Philipp Kalla and Marc Hornschuh dropped to the bench, while Mats Møller Dæhli had to withdraw due to illness. Sandhausen came to Hamburg looking to end a run of seven games without a win but they were without their injured leading scorer, Andrew Wooten (nine goals). With the Boys in Brown also winless in three, both sides went into the match desperate to register three points.

After a brief phase in which the two teams felt each other out Lienen's side fashioned the first half-chance in the eighth minute. Bouhaddouz cut the ball back for Nehrig to shoot with the outside of his boot from distance, but Sandhausen goalkeeper Marco Knaller defused the effort. Three minutes later Choi threaded a pass through for Waldemar Sobota, who was brought down 25 metres from goal by Sandhausen's Damian Rossbach when clean through. Referee Florian Badstübner adjudged it to be a last-man foul and showed Rossbach the red card. SVS coach Kocak responded immediately, introducing a defender in Leart Paqarada for attacking midfielder Julian Derstroff.

The visitors continued to defend resolutely despite being a man down and pressed the Boys in Brown at every opportunity. And after winning possession in midfield they carved out their first opportunity on 19 when Thomas Pledl played a reverse pass in the box and the ball eventually found its way to Philipp Klingmann, whose shot was blocked at the last minute. Lienen's side were back on the front foot soon afterwards, and when Knaller could only parry a Sobota rocket from outside the box, the ball fell to the unmarked Bouhaddouz eight metres out. The former Sandhausen man didn't make a proper contact, however, and the ball took one bounce and clipped the bar on its way over.

With half an hour gone the home crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief when Lucas Höler got a glancing header on a Paqarada free-kick and the ball fizzed just past the right-hand upright. St. Pauli dominated the possession after that and pinned the visitors back in their own half but they struggled to find a way through a packed defence.

Five minutes before the break, however, Sahin broke quickly down the wing and delivered a cross into the middle. The ball was only half-cleared and Nehrig tried his luck with a first-time volley that flew a couple of metres over the top. Daniel Buballa could have given his side the lead on the stroke of half-time but could only get his thigh on a free-kick and Knaller bundled the ball out for a corner, which came to nothing, leaving the game goalless at the break.

Lienen made one change at half-time, introducing Lennart Thy for Choi. The first decent chance after the restart fell to Christopher Buchtmann, however, not Thy. The midfielder let fly after collecting a pass from Sobota, but the ball took a slight deflection and went wide. Buchtmann was in the thick of things again moments later, pulling the trigger after Sahin had threaded the ball through, but Knaller produced a smart save.

Kocak responded to the early onslaught by bringing on another defender in Daniel Gordon for midfielder Manuel Stiefler. The Boys in Brown continued to probe against what was now a five-man backline and eventually found an opening in the 63^rd minute. Bouhaddouz got his head on a Sahin cross in the goal area but Tim Kister was able to help the ball round the post.

Lienen immediately made a second change in Jan-Philipp Kalla for Buballa and five minutes later his side came very close to breaking the deadlock when Knaller misjudged a Sahin cross, allowing Nehrig to pull the trigger in the box, only for Gordon to clear the ball off the line. Some thought it had gone in but the referee got it right and it remained 0-0.

With 73 minutes gone the visitors created their first real chance of the half when Höler broke down the middle and shaped to shoot from the edge of the area, but Nehrig was alert to the danger and managed to stop the Sandhausen striker. Lienen's men stepped up another gear in the final quarter of an hour and had another chance through Sobota. Once again it was Sahin with the cross from the right. Sobota met it first time on the volley but was leaning back slightly and the ball flew over the top.

The Boys in Brown threw everyone forward in the closing stages, including Jan-Marc Schneider, who had come on for Nehrig with seven minutes left. Not until time added on were they to have their last chance to win it, though, against a brave Sandhausen side. Buchtmann took a corner short to Sahin and his cross found a taker in Lasse Sobiech, but the header was just too high. Thy had a half-chance with another header but that was it and the game ended in a 0-0 stalemate.

FC St. Pauli

Heerwagen - Dudziak, Sobiech, Ziereis, Buballa (Kalla 64') - Nehrig (Schneider 83'), Buchtmann - Sahin, Choi (Thy 46'), Sobota - Bouhaddouz

Head coach: Ewald Lienen

SV Sandhausen

Knaller - Klingmann, Karl, Kister, Rossbach - Pledl, Linsmayer, Lukasik (Kuhn 88'), Stiefler (Gordon 55') - Höler, Derstroff (Paqarada 16')

Head coach: Kenan Kocak

Yellow cards: Bouhaddouz, Nehrig, Buballa - Stiefler

Red card: Rossbach (last-man foul 11')

Referee: Florian Badstübner

Attendance: 29,085

Photos: Witters