FC St. Pauli

Head coach Fabian Hürzeler: “We started the game very well and got our reward with the opening goal. We then had a phase where we were very passive and sat back and didn’t defend the space so well. Elversberg were really good there and could have equalised from a set piece. After that we were much more active and got the second. We knew Elversberg would come at us again after the restart, but we showed good resolve to keep them at bay. Huge respect to my team for their work rate after such a cup game. With the goals we had the momentum on our side as well. I’m happy we kept a clean sheet and I think we could have won by more if we’d made better use of our chances. Nevertheless, I’m very satisfied with the performance all in all.”

Jackson Irvine: “It was a very strong, mature showing. I’m very happy with our performance and the result. We played a high press in the first half and in the second half we sat back a bit. We could have won by more in the end but that’s just details. I’m incredibly proud of the team, it’s been a hard week, but we gave our all. Everyone’s important here. I’ll miss the Hannover game because of my fifth yellow card. They’re a good team who play good football. You have to keep pushing if you want to stay near the top and that’s what we’re doing. The last few weeks have been tough for me with my injury, then coming back for the Karlsruhe game, my stomach problems after the cup game, but I’m so happy we’ve won here today and kept a clean sheet as well. We have amazing quality up front. Marcel Hartel and Johannes Eggestein are very valuable for us in this form."

Marcel Hartel: “I’m proud of the team for producing a performance like that with the extra-time in their legs. Huge respect for the team for the way they played, ran and fought. We deservedly went two-nil up, but Elversberg were better in the second half. They’re a very good team, as we saw, but you also saw our character in the way we threw ourselves in the way of every ball and were determined to keep a clean sheet. I’m delighted we managed to get the three points today. I had tired legs towards the end but we’re playing very well at the moment and everyone one of us, including me, is feeling confident, which is so incredibly good for us. It’s obviously enjoyable when you’re scoring and making goals but winning is even more enjoyable. Everyone’s a part of it and we push each other, which is why things are going so well at the moment."

Horst Steffen (Elversberg head coach): “Congratulations, Fabian. We obviously knew it would be tough today. I would have hoped we could have created some more chances from set pieces, but St. Pauli defended very well from open play most of the time. We have to accept that our opponents were simply better than we were today. With a bit of luck we could have pulled one back, and anything could have happened then. In the end, though, we were lucky they didn’t make better use of their chances."

Photo: Witters