FC St. Pauli

Head coach Alexander Blessin named an unchanged side from the 2-0 defeat at Borussia Mönchengladbach. Of the players carrying knocks and injuries, only Adam Dźwigała made it into the squad. For Kiel, who lost 3-0 at home to Mainz last week, Finn Porath, Magnus Knudsen and Jann-Fiete Arp began in place of Tymoteusz Puchacz, Steven Skrzybski and Shūto Machino. Both teams went into the game looking to win the battle of the promoted sides and secure all three points. A long-awaited home win would see the Boys in Brown leapfrog Heidenheim into 15^th place overnight and widen the gap to Kiel to six points.

In front of a packed house at the Millerntor the visitors hit the ball long from the kick-off and Nicolai Remberg unleashed the first shot on goal from range with just eight seconds on the clock. Fortunately, the ball fizzed narrowly wide of the right-hand upright. The Boys in Brown looked to seize control of the proceedings from the outset but were unable to find a way through Kiel's deep defensive line in the opening stages. The visitors transitioned quickly on winning possession and fashioned another chance for Remberg in the sixth minute. This time he fired well wide from distance.

Both teams continued to push forward in the ensuing period but to little effect. The Boys in Brown enjoyed a whopping 70% of the possession but were unable to capitalise, which was partly down to the solid Kiel defence. Many attacking forays petered out on the edge of the area, and the ball did find its way into the box, the Storks managed to clear their lines. That all changed in the 25^th minute, however, when the home support were finally able to celebrate the first home goal of the season to the sound of Song 2. Oladapo Afolayan did brilliantly to work some space on the left-hand side and feed Johannes Eggestein in the box. The striker looked up and knocked the ball into the path of the advancing Manolis Saliakas, who drilled a low shot into the net off the inside of the left-hand upright from just outside the area. Two minutes later it could have been 2-0 when Jann-Fiete Arp denied Morgan Guilavogui and then Patrick Erras cleared Eggestein's rebound effort off the line.

The game became a little frenzied after that, the intensity of the tackles went up a level and occasionally  beyond the bounds of legality. Then, with 36 minutes gone, the Boys in Brown won a corner. Eric Smith picked out Boukhalfa completely unmarked, and his header evaded Timon Weiner's despairing dive before smacking against the crossbar and being cleared by the Kiel defence. Shortly before half-time, the visitors almost grabbed an equaliser completely out of the blue. A Saliakas header back to Nikola Vasilj proved too short and the keeper clattered into Lewis Holtby, prompting Felix Zwayer to point to the spot without hesitation. Arp stepped up to take the penalty, and Vasilj made the save to send his team in a goal to the good at the break.

Allow us to present Manolis Saliakas, scorer of our first goal at the Millerntor this season.

Both teams emerged unchanged after the interval. And the visitors came out intent on playing a bigger part in the proceedings. Instead of keeping things tight in their own half, they sought to stifle the St. Pauli build-up with some early pressing. The tactic brought Kiel more of the game, but the Boys in Brown set up shop just short of the halfway line and closed down the space to such effect that the visitors could not prise them open. And then the Blessin XI unleashed a lethal counterthrust. Jackson Irvine won possession and Afolayan dribbled his way past several opposition players before slipping the ball to Eggestein, who in turn teed up the unmarked Guilavogui. He left Weiner no chance from 12 metres – 2-0!

The Boys in Brown continued to keep things tight at the back and looked to catch Kiel with some jabs. The second goal appeared to have knocked the stuffing out of the visitors, though Phil Harres was presented with a headed chance from a 67^th minute free-kick. He stuck it well wide, though. Kiel boss Marcel Rapp soon responded with a double switch designed to boost his flagging attack, and then Alexander Blessin followed suit when both of his goalscorers were forced off by knocks within 180 seconds of each other. Saliakas was replaced by Lars Ritzka and Guilavogui made way for Danel Sinani.

Just 15 minutes separated the Blessin XI from their first home win of the season, and they were desparate to see the game out. Though Kiel stepped up the pressure, they lacked the right tools for the job. Some strong defensive work by the Boys in Brown ensured victory was never in doubt, and on 85 minutes they added a third goal through Johannes Eggestein. Harres pulled one back for Kiel in time added on and soon after Vasilj produced one good save before turning a flicked-on cross onto the post. That was the last of the action and the players were left celebrating the long-awaited home win with the fans.

FC St. Pauli

Vasilj - Wahl, Smith, Nemeth - Saliakas (Ritzka 71'), Boukhalfa, Irvine, Treu - Afolayan (Ahlstrand 89'), Eggestein (Albers 89'), Guilavogui (Sinani 74')

Head coach: Alexander Blessin

Holstein Kiel

Weiner - Ivezić, Erras, Geschwill (Puchacz 68') - Holtby (Pichler 68') - Becker, Knudsen (Gigović 77'), Remberg, Poratz (Rosenboom 77') - Arp (Machino 59') - Harres

Head coach: Marcel Rapp

Goals: 1-0 Saliakas (25'), 2-0 Guilavogui (56'), 3-0 Eggestein (85'), 3-1 Harres (90'+1)

Incident of note: Vasilj saves an Arp penalty (45')

Yellow cards: Smith, Afolayan – Holtby, Becker, Machino, Rapp

Referee: Felix Zwayer (Berlin)

Attendance: 29,546 (sold out)

Photos: FC St. Pauli/Witters