FC St. Pauli

Head coach Markus Kauczinski went with a 4-4-2 formation for the 120-minute runout against Charleroi, with new signing Alex Meier partnering Sami Allagui up front. The Boys in Brown enjoyed more of the play early on and put what they had worked on in training in the morning straight into practice. With just four minutes on the clock, a ball in from Marvin Knoll was glanced into the net by Philipp Ziereis, but the central defender was adjudged to be in an offside position. The Belgian side struggled to find a way through the solid St. Pauli rearguard in the opening stages, while at the other end Cenk Sahin unlocked the RSC defence with a lovely through ball to Meier, who was denied a perfect start by a fine reflex save from Penneteau.

Operating with a high defensive line combined with controlled pressing in the opposition half, the Boys in Brown continued to look solid and they eventually took the lead on 26 minutes. Florian Carstens rose to meet another Knoll free-kick and flicked the ball on towards the far post, where Meier demonstrated his nose for goal with a close-range finish.

Kauczinski took advantage of the opening drinks break on the half-hour to make his first change, Jeremy Dudziak replacing Christopher Buchtmann. Charleroi stepped up the pressure and pinned the Boys in Brown back in their own half, yet keeper Korbinian Müller had precious little to do. Much the same could be said for Penneteau at the other end, however. Müller was called into action for the first time on the stroke of half-time when he tipped a Massimo Bruno drive over the crossbar.

The second half was only 30 seconds old when Mats Møller Dæhli was presented with an opportunity to double the advantage. Jan-Philipp Kalla pinged a long ball to Jan-Marc Schneider, who knocked it square to Møller Dæhli, but the Norwegian was denied by substitute keeper Remy Riou from eight metres. Eight minutes later Møller Dæhli swept a pass out to Luca Zander on the right. Schneider met his cross with a looping header and the ball almost sneaked in at the far post. The striker had more joy three minutes later, however, dispatching a shot into the bottom left corner from just outside the area after some neat combination play by Møller Dæhli and Ersin Zehir.

Unfortunately, the two-goal lead proved short-lived, as the Belgian side reduced the deficit from a corner just five minutes later. Müller turned the initial effort onto the crossbar but there was nothing he could do to keep out the rebound. The Boys in Brown went straight back down the other end and when Møller Dæhli pulled the trigger from the edge of the box the ball fizzed narrowly past the left-hand upright. Kauczinski made two more changes for the closing stages, introducing debutant Leon Schmidt for Müller in goal and Marc Hornschuh for Kalla. A special moment for Hornschuh, of course, who was making his return to action after a 482-day injury layoff.

Schmidt was called into action almost immediately, defusing a shot from the inside-right channel on 94 minutes, but six minutes later the Belgians were level. A low free-kick from just outside the area flashed past the wall, and although Schmidt got a hand on it, he was unable to prevent it finding the net. Worse was to come, as just three minutes later the game was turned on its head when a long-range effort found the bottom left corner with Schmidt powerless.

Lineup (1^st half):

Müller - Park, Ziereis, Carstens, Buballa - Sahin, Buchtmann (Dudziak 31'), Knoll, Sobota - Meier, Allagui

Lineup (2^nd half)

Müller (Schmidt 91') - Zander, Kalla (Hornschuh 91'), Koglin (Avevor 91'), Coordes (Avevor 106') - Miyaichi, Zehir, Flum, Møller Dæhli - Becker, Schneider

Goals: 1-0 Meier (26'), 2-0 Schneider (71'), 2-1 (75'), 2-2 (100'), 2-3 (103')