FC St. Pauli

Head coach Fabian Hürzeler: "We were really dominant in the first half without creating any clear-cut chances. We had good presence in and around the box and lots of attempts on goal and with a bit more luck we could have taken the lead. We kept a good shape, counter-pressed them straightaway and gave virtually nothing away off the ball. That was really good, of course. After the break Düsseldorf ran at us really well. To go man on man all over the pitch here was very brave. We managed to find footballing solutions in the first 10 to 15 minutes, but we weren’t resolute enough in the final third and didn’t implement the solutions we talked about beforehand. The longer the game went on, the more balls we had to play. Düsseldorf set their stall out very well at the back. They won a lot of second balls, which is how they came to the huge chance they had. For us it means we have to find more answers to a man-oriented pressing game. We didn’t do that very well in the first half at Darmstadt last week either. It’s a process that we’ll address. We’ll have to find better solutions in future when teams press us man on man. It ought to play into our hands really. I'm not totally satisfied with the result, but I'm definitely satisfied with the performance. It was an evenly matched contest and neither team had the momentum. We'll now wait and see what HSV do tomorrow."

Elias Saad: “We should have won in my view. The draw is no good to anyone. We had lots of opportunities in the first half and it’s a shame we didn’t take them. I don’t understand the decision not to give the penalty. The referee made his decision but in my opinion the ball was on target. It was a high-intensity duel with Christoph Klarer but I was still able to play to my strengths.”

Karol Mets: "I think we played well but like the others I'm disappointed we couldn't get the three points tonight. Fortuna Düsseldorf are a very good team, so it doesn't feel like a defeat, but I’m not happy with the point. I always try to do my best and help the team. We focused on blocking shots in training this week. It wasn't the best defending against Jona Niemiec but it was enough to deflect the ball onto the bar and stop them scoring. With actions like that you try to push the others. Other players in our team do it like that as well. We have two games left. That means there are still six points up for grabs and we want to get them."

Leart Paqarada: "It was an intensive game. We're obviously disappointed not to get three points. We wanted the win and showed that, and we were a bit surprised that Düsseldorf didn't do more to try and win it themselves. At times they went for it up front, but they were also very passive in parts and sat back very deep, which made it more difficult for us to create clear-cut chances. It’s really hard to find the right pass when they’re defending so deep with five in a line. We threw everything at it and the fans got the message that we really wanted the three points. We're a team who want to win every game and looking at the table we'd have loved to win this one, of course."

Lukas Daschner: “Straight after the game I heard someone say we lost ‘0-0’ and I have to agree. Düsseldorf did very little today even though they still had something to play for. We created lots of chances in the first half. It was 21-3 attempts on goal in the end. We really did try everything but weren't resolute enough towards the end. Düsseldorf defended very deep in the closing stages. It felt like they weren't interested in winning it, unlike us. We really wanted all three points."

Daniel Thioune (Fortuna Düsseldorf coach): “I’ve followed with lots of respect what Fabian Hürzeler has been doing with the team. The progress and the results are superb. St. Pauli have caused lots of teams big problems and it was the same for us from the outset. We tried to attack them high up the field, but our coordination wasn’t good on the left-hand side. I would have liked us to do more attacking. There were two or three moments where we could have got in. After that they pushed us back deep in our own half and we were fortunate not to go behind. We were in the game in the second half and created some chances. Towards the end both teams tried to win it. We added a bit more impetus with the substitutions. Overall, I wasn’t disappointed with the performance. My players aren’t disappointed, they responded well to a below-par first-half showing.”

Photos: Witters