FC St. Pauli

Head coach Timo Schultz fielded almost the exact same side that beat Holstein Kiel on the opening day. The sole change came in attack, where Maximilian Dittgen got the nod over Simon Makienok, who began on the bench.

The home side hit the ground running and created the first chance with just 25 seconds on the clock. Soufiane Messeguem tried his luck with a difficult-to-execute volley from the edge of the box, but Nikola Vasilj was well placed to defuse the situation. The opening threat at the other end came from Guido Burgstaller, whose 4^th minute effort was deflected for a corner that came to nothing.

Then, with 16 minutes gone, the Boys in Brown thought they had taken the lead when Luca Zander raced half the length of the pitch before picking out Burgstaller in the inside-left channel. The striker collected the ball neatly and wasted no time in smashing a shot past Martin Männel into the top corner. Unfortunately, a VAR check revealed that the Austrian had been a shade offside when the pass was played.

Aue continued to carry a threat and in the 22^nd minute Dimitri Nazarov tested Vasilj with a shot from range. The Bosnian custodian came out on top in that contest, a fate suffered by Omar Sijaric six minutes later. After skipping past Philipp Ziereis in the area, the forward was left with just Vasilj to beat, but the angle was tight and the keeper's huge frame kept it at 0-0. Ben Zolinski was the next Aue player to be denied by the St. Pauli stopper on the stroke half-time, leaving the two sides to go in goalless at the break after a high-intensity 45 minutes.

A hard-fought contest at Aue

Both teams emerged unchanged for the second half and after a relatively leisurely opening ten minutes it was Finn Ole Becker who almost gave his side the lead, driving past three Aue defenders before toe-poking the ball narrowly wide of the upright. Former St. Pauli defender Sören Gonther was then presented with a golden opportunity to open the scoring on 68 when he ghosted in at the far post to meet a long ball forward. He hit it first time but couldn't keep the shot down and the ball cleared the crossbar by some distance.

There was little action of note in the second half compared with first, with most of the action unfolding between the two penalty boxes. Six minutes from time, substitute, however, Lukas Daschner almost won it for the Boys in Brown after some quick-fire passing play, but his shot from the edge of the area fizzed narrowly the wrong side of the post. Then it was Daniel-Kofi Kyereh with the chance to claim the three points after a fine solo run in the first minute of time added on. His effort lacked precision, however, and proved no problem for Männel, ensuring the game ended in a no-score draw.

Erzgebirge Aue

Männel – Bussmann, Gonther, Carlson, Strauss, Fandrich (Schreck 63'), Barylla, Nazarov (Majetschak 85'), Sijaric, Zolinski, Messeguem (Baumgart 71')

Head coach: Aliaksei Shpileuski

FC St. Pauli

Vasilj – Zander (Dźwigała 90'), Ziereis, Medić, Paqarada – Smith (Aremu 78'), Becker, Benatelli (Buchtmann 78'), Kyereh – Dittgen (Daschner 55'), Burgstaller (Makienok 90')

Head coach: Timo Schultz

Yellow cards: Carlson/ Medić, Smith

Referee: Florian Heft

Attendance: 6,828

Photos: Witters