FC St. Pauli

After an impressive team performance in last week's 2-1 win at Armenia Bielefeld, St. Pauli looked to carry on the good work at home to FC Heidenheim. Head coach Markus Kauczinski made two changes, the return of Christopher Buchtmann and Philipp Ziereis seeing Ryo Miyaichi and Florian Carstens drop to the bench.

The action on the pitch was played at a fast pace from the start. St. Pauli exerted intense pressure early on and had a clear territorial advantage. At the same time, the Boys and Brown had to be wide awake as Heidenheim sought to break quickly once they gained possession. Overall, the Brown and Whites clearly had the upper hand as they endeavoured to get forward, while keeping in check the efforts of the away team. However, the final passes failed to find their targets, with our most dangerous effort coming with a long-range shot from Richard Neudecker that FCH keeper Kevin Müller just managed to save on 28 minutes.

The visitors, coached by Frank Schmidt, found their way into the game just before the break. After a ball into the box from Marc Schnatterer, Christopher Avevor and Daniel Buballa were able to intervene to save a tricky situation and frustrate Nikola Dovedan and Robert Andrich on 35 minutes. Just after that, Norman Theuerkauf (35') and Schnatterer (44') had two good chances to shoot but their attempts lacked the required accuracy to find their way into the back of the net.

Always looking to get on the front foot: Daniel Buballa & Co. put Heidenheim under heavy pressure at times.

The second half got off to a sluggish start before FCH carried on from where they left off in the first. Philipp Ziereis tackled Denis Thomalla but the rebound fell to Schnatterer and his clipped low shot from 12 metres curled into the net (52'). The Boys in Brown demonstrated their ability to bounce back last week and six days later Kauczinski's team were in the mood to mount another comeback.

Henk Veerman came off the bench to strengthen the attack and he immediately made his mark on the game. First, the striker headed a cross from Mats Møller Dæhli just wide of the target. Shortly after that, the 29,546 fans at the sold-out Millerntor Stadion were able to celebrate. The lively Marvin Knoll broke down the left flank and whipped in a cross for Veerman to slide in and turn the ball into the net (62'). The Millerntor erupted and the fans drove the Boys in Brown forward in search of a winner.

As Heidenheim also sought to pick up three points, the match developed into an open end-to-end exchange. FCH substitute Arne Feick raced down the left wing and his cross was deflected by Ziereis, forcing Robin Himmelmann to turn the ball away for a corner (72'). St. Pauli continued to press forward, and they brought on a second front man in Dimitrios Diamantakos. Just before the final whistle, Ersin Zehir headed a corner just over the bar (90'). The last chance in an entertaining game of football.

FC St. Pauli

Himmelmann – Dudziak, Ziereis, Avevor, Buballa – Flum (Zehir 76’), Knoll - Møller Dæhli, Buchtmann (Veerman 52’), Neudecker – Allagui (Diamantakos 85’)

Head coach: Markus Kauczinski

FC Heidenheim

Müller – Busch, Mainka, Beermann, Theuerkauf – Andrich (Feick 56'), Dorsch (Glatzel 67'), Griesbeck, Schnatterer (Multhaup 82’) – Thomalla, Dovedan

Head coach: Frank Schmidt

Goals: 0-1 Schnatterer (52’), 1-1 Veerman (62’)

Yellow cards: Flum (fifth yellow card), Allagui, Veerman, Ziereis

Referee: Christian Dietz

Attendance:  29,546 (sold out)