FC St. Pauli

Next up after 2-1 home win over Arminia Bielefeld was the game of the weekend at league leaders Darmstadt. With Eric Smith still sidelined, head coach Fabian Hürzeler named an unchanged side, the only change in the 20-man squad being the inclusion of Marcel Beifus for Afeez Aremu, who was ruled out by illness. Darmstadt boss Torsten Lieberknecht made one adjustment to the team that won 3-0 at Kiel last time out, Tobias Kempe coming into the starting XI for Mathias Honsak.

The position going into the game was clear. A win would see the Boys in Brown close the gap to third-placed HSV to four points, while the Lilies had only one thing on their mind and that was claiming the three points they needed to secure promotion to the Bundesliga for the fourth time. The sell-out crowd at the Böllenfalltor had the stadium rocking well before the kick-off. It was a high-intensity affair from the off with early chances for both sides. Elias Saad unleashed a shot from range that was blocked, and at the other end Nikola Vasilj had to pull out all the stops to turn a Fabian Schnellhardt shot wide of the right-hand post for a corner.

Back at the other end, Saad fed Marcel Hartel and he knocked a low cross into the box from the left for Oladapo Afolayan to shoot. He didn’t make a proper connection, however, and the ball trundled out for a goal-kick. The Hürzeler XI moved the ball around nicely against the Darmstadt press and combined their way forward on several occasions, but the next opportunity fell to the home side in the 20^th minute when Phillip Tietz pulled the trigger from the left channel, but Adam Dźwigała got the block in. Moments later, Tietz had another go. This time he dragged his shot well wide of the far post.

After a brief lull in the action, Tietz went down in the box after a challenge by Karol Mets and immediately appealed for a penalty, but referee Tobias Reichel was having none of it and rightly so. Tietz was proving a handful and on 36 he had another chance following a long ball forward to the edge of the area. His shot on the turn flew a good metre wide of the right-hand angle. Two minutes later, Marvin Mehlem took advantage when Jackson Irvine lost possession just outside the box, but his shot fizzed past the post. Vasilj then collected a Tobias Kempe free-kick with aplomb, and on the stroke of half-time the Boys in Brown took the lead. Leart Paqarada whipped in a free-kick from the left to the near post, where Adam Dźwigała got his head to it. The ball took a decisive deflection off Tietz and flew into the net to send the Hürzeler XI in at the break a goal to the good.

On the stroke of half-time, Adam Dźwigała gets his head to a Leart Paqarada free-kick and the ball deflects off Phillip Tietz into the net with Marcel Schuhen powerless.

Fabian Hürzeler fielded an unchanged side for the second period, while his opposite number introduced Mathias Honsak for Fabian Schnellhardt. The home side now had to score twice to secure promotion against a St. Pauli side determined to stop them in a bid to keep their own hopes alive. And with just 75 seconds gone, the Boys in Brown almost doubled their advantage from a Paqarada free-kick. The left-back picked out Hartel in space in front of the goal, but unfortunately his header flew straight to Marcel Schuhen in the Darmstadt goal.

The home side kept pressing but were unable to find a way through the compact St. Pauli rearguard from open play. It was a different story at the other end and the Boys in Brown added a second following a long throw by Manolis Saliakas. The ball found its way back to the Greek full-back and his ball in was diverted by Patrick Pfeiffer to Paqarada in the middle. Schuhen could only parry his long-range drive straight to Daschner, who hooked it back across the face of the goal for the advancing Saad, and he got there before Pfeiffer to bundle the ball into the net to make it 2-0.

Darmstadt soon had the ball in the net through Tietz, but Honsak had been in an offside position before providing the assist and the goal was disallowed. At the other end, Saad came close to make it three on the counter, but Pfeiffer slid in to defuse his shot at the last moment. Lieberknecht responded by throwing on two strikers in Aaron Seydel and Filip Stojilković for centre-back Christoph Zimmermann and wide player Braydon Manu on 67. Moments later Seydel had two opportunities to shoot in quick successsion – the first was blocked by Mets, the second by Dźwigała (69.). A little later, it was left to Saliakas to slide in to prevent Tietz from pulling one back for the home side.

Paqarada then picked up a knock and had to go off, Lars Ritzka the man replacing him. Hürzeler followed up with a double switch. Saad went off after a challenge from Marvin Mehlem and was replaced by Connor Metcalfe. Hürzeler also threw on David Otto for Oladapo Afolayan.

In the 84^th minute, the Boys in Brown put the game to bed when Matthias Bader lost possession, allowing Daschner to bear down on the Darmstadt goal. And instead of going for goal himself, he squared it to Otto, who tapped in to make it 3-0. Honsak had one last chance for the home side, but Vasilj gathered it safely. An evenly balanced contest ended with the Boys in Brown winning convincingly at league leaders Darmstadt. It was their first win at the Böllenfalltor in 12 attempts, a victory that saw the Lilies miss out on promotion, for the time being at least, and the Hürzeler XI reduce the gap to third-placed HSV to four points and remain in contention.

SV Darmstadt 98

Schuhen - Pfeiffer, Zimmermann (Seydel 67’), Müller - Bader, Kempe, Schnellhardt (Honsak 46’), Karic - Mehlem, Manu (Stojilković 67’) - Tietz

Head coach: Torsten Lieberknecht

FC St. Pauli

Vasilj - Dźwigała, Medić, Mets - Saliakas, Irvine, Hartel, Paqarada (Ritzka 77’) - Saad (Metcalfe 81’), Daschner (Beifus 90’+1), Afolayan (Otto 81’)

Head coach: Fabian Hürzeler

Goals: 0-1 Tietz (o.g. 45’), 0-2 Saad (57’), 0-3 Otto (84’)

Yellow cards: Mehlem, Seydel – Beifus

Referee: Tobias Reichel (Stuttgart)

Fans: 17,650 (ausverkauft)

Photos: Witters