FC St. Pauli

Head coach Fabian Hürzeler had to rejig his side after the 3-1 defeat at FC Schalke 04 last time out and opted to field Adam Dźwigała and Elias Saad for the injured Eric Smith (adductor strain) and Oladapo Afolayan (ankle sprain). Johannes Eggestein also got the nod over Aljoscha Kemlein. Visiting coach Pál Dárdai made one change to the team that drew 2-2 with Holstein Kiel, Marten Winkler coming in for Ibrahim Maza, who dropped to the bench. Just before the kick-off, Dárdai also had to replace goalkeeper Tjark Ernst with Marius Gersbeck.

Hertha travelled to Hamburg looking for a win that would take them to within four points of third-placed HSV, while the Boys in Brown were keen to make amends for the defeat at Schalke and widen the gap to their crosstown rivals to ten points. Conditions were close to perfect when the game kicked off in front of another sell-crowd at the Millerntor, and it was the Hürzeler XI who fashioned the first chance with just 52 seconds gone when Philipp Treu smashed a drive just over from 20 metres following a corner.

The opening stages were dominated by the Boys in Brown, but they had to wait until the 14^th minute for the next opportunity. It came when Treu won possession in the opposition half and got the ball back again from Elias Saad before picking out Marcel Hartel with a cross from the left, but it was a touch too high and the midfielder's header flew off target. Two minutes later, Hartel won a corner and knocked it short to Connor Metcalfe, whose low ball in found its way to Manolis Saliakas just outside the box, and his first-time effort took a deflection off Toni Leistner on its way into the bottom-left corner of the goal. One-nil!

Buoyed by the opening strike, the Hürzeler XI continued to press, frequently pinning the visitors back on the edge of their box. If there was anything to criticise, it was that the scoreline remained 1-0 despite a string of promising attacks. The Berliners struggled to escape the brown-and-white stranglehold, and if they did find some respite, the well-marshalled St. Pauli defence blunted any offensive ambitions they had on the halfway line before launching counterthrusts of their own.

With 35 minutes gone, some neat passing play saw Eggestein unload from the right-hand channel, but his effort flew narrowly wide after taking a deflection off the chest of the advancing Hauke Wahl. Hartel went even closer four minutes later, his header from a Saliakas cross fizzing a whisker past the right-hand upright when it looked to be going in. Hartel went one better five minutes later, however, when the visitors failed to clear their lines under pressure. The midfielder collected the ball near the right-hand corner of the area, cut inside from the right and rifled a low left-foot drive into the bottom right-hand corner of the net from the edge of the box to double the advantage. That was the last of the action, leaving the Boys in Brown to take in a deserved two-goal lead at the break.

Manolis Saliakas celebrates after opening the scoring just after the quarter-hour mark.

Hürzeler understandably had no reason to make a change, which could not be said of his opposite number Dárdai, who made not one but three changes for the second 45, Toni Leistner, Marten Winkler and Haris Tabaković making way for Márton Dárdai, Ibrahim Maza and Derry Scherhant. The opening chance again fell to the Boys in Brown in the 49^th minute, but Saad's shot from ten metres was blocked by Márton Dárdai. Saliakas then tried his luck again from distance, and this time his effort clipped the angle of bar and post on its way out. As Gersbeck had got a hand to it, a corner was given, and when the visitors could only half clear, Wahl hammered a shot well over from the left channel.

Dárdai had made his substitutions with the intention of adding more bite up front, but his team remained largely anonymous in attack due to some impressive collective defending from the Hürzeler XI. The visitors eventually carved out their first opportunity of note on the hour when Scherhant latched onto a long ball forward, but Karol Mets got across quickly to block the shot. From the resulting corner, Maza fired well over from the edge of the D.

Two minutes later, the Boys in Brown passed their way from back to front for Metcalfe to cut in from the right and aim a shot wide of the right-hand post from just inside the area. They continued to dominate and fashioned another chance from a Hartel free kick with just over a quarter of an hour to go, but Eggestein's header flew a good metre over the top.

After Saliakas had made way for Lars Ritzka to a warm round of applause from the home fans, Hertha threatened again when Scherhant struggled off the challenge of Mets, only to drag his effort off target. The Estonian picked up an injury trying to block the shot, however, and had to go off. He was replaced by Aljoscha Kemlein.

The visitors continued to probe in the closing stages without every really threatening, allowing the Boys in Brown to see the game out and secure a well-deserved 2-0 home win over Hertha BSC.

FC St. Pauli

Vasilj - Dźwigała, Wahl, Mets (Kemlein 80') - Saliakas (Ritzka 76'), Irvine, Hartel, Treu - Metcalfe, Eggestein, Saad (Scheller 89')

Head coach: Fabian Hürzeler

Hertha BSC

Ernst - Kenny, Gechter, Leistner (M. Dárdai 46'), Karbownik - Barkok, Klemens (Bouchalakis 66') - Winkler (Maza 46'), P. Dardai (Niederlechner 87'), Reese - Tabaković (Scherhant 46')

Head coach: Pál Dárdai

Goals: 1-0 Saliakas (16'), 2-0 Hartel (44')

Yellow cards: Saliakas – Kenny

Referee: Harm Osmers (Hannover)

Attendance: 29,546 (sold out)

Photos: FC St. Pauli/Witters