FC St. Pauli

Nikola Vasilj made his first appearance of the season in goal but otherwise head coach Timo Schultz made no changes to the side that drew 2-2 with Paderborn last time out.

Led by joint captain Jackson Irvine, the Boys in Brown dominated the possession and looked the better side early on but it took them until the eighth minute of the game to create the opening opportunity. Some neat passing play down the left culminated with Lukas Daschner unloading in the Fürth penalty area and the ball was goalbound until it hit Oussama Haddadi on the back. Further opportunities for David Otto and Daschner, again, also failed to produce the desired result.

The travelling support did have cause to celebrate in the 19th minute, however. After Daschner had seen anotther attempt blocked, Leart Paqarada poked the ball into the penalty area where Marcel Hartel was lurking in a central position in front of goal and the midfielder had no problem bundling the ball past goalkeeper Andreas Linde from close range to give his side a deserved lead. It could have been two ten minutes later when Irvine climbed to meet a corner from the left  and his well-timed header rattled the crossbar on its way over.

Fürth threatened Vasilj's goal for the first time from a free-kick five minutes before the interval, but Max Christiansen's header flew comfortably past the far post. The hosts began to enjoy more of the possession in this phase of the game without posing much a threat, however, and so the Schultz XI went in at the break with a narrow lead.

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FCSP made one change for the second half, Luca Zander coming on for Manolis Saliakas. What also changed was the way the home side were playing. Within seconds of the start, Vasilj had to intervene to keep out a ball that had deflected off Eric Smith. The resulting Fürth corner was no less dangerous, and Paqarada had to clear a header off the line.

Moments later, however, Vasilj was beaten. A long ball out of defence landed at the feet of Branimir Hrgota, who wasted no time drilling a low shot past the keeper for the equaliser. It was to get worse. Just five minutes later, the game had been turned on its head. Raschl delivered a cross into the danger area from the right and in attempting to make the clearance Irvine headed into his own net.

The hosts continued to leave their mark on the game in the ensuing period, yet it was the Schultz XI who had the next big chance of the game in the form of a penalty when Igor Matanovic, on for Daschner, was bundled over in the penalty area in the 72nd minute. It went to VAR, and Paqarada stepped up to take the resulting spot-kick. Unfortunately, his attempt smacked against the crossbar and came down the wrong side of the line.

Little of note happened for a while but then, all of a sudden, the away section were celebrating again. Substitute Connor Metcalfe won the ball in midfield and, after getting it back from Matanović, tried his luck from just outside the penalty box. The Australian got his reward and the Boys in Brown were level five months before the end of regulation time.

And in the 90th minute Etienne Amenyido came close to restoring his team's advantage, but his deflected shot flew just past the right-hand post. After four minutes of injury time, it was all over and the Boys in Brown returned to Hamburg with a point.

Greuther Fürth

Linde - Asta (Mhamdi 90'+1), Michalski, Haddadi, John - Christiansen - Tillman, Sieb (Ache 75') - Hrgota - Raschl, Abiama (Pululu 87')

Head coach: Marc Schneider

FC St. Pauli

Vasilj - Saliakas (Zander 46'), Nemeth, Medić, Paqarada - Smith (Metcalfe 79'), Irvine, Hartel, Daschner (Matanović 60') - Eggestein (Boukhalfa 89'), Otto (Amenyido 60')

Head coach: Timo Schultz

Goals: 0-1 Hartel (19.), 1-1 Hrgota (47'), 2-1 Irvine (o.g. 52'), 2-2 Metcalfe (85')

Yellow cards: Christiansen - Saliakas, Otto, Irvine, Amenyido, Boukhalfa

Referee: Martin Petersen

Attendance: 

Photos: Witters