FC St. Pauli

After the vital 1-0 home win over Hansa Rostock, head coach Fabian Hürzeler named an unchanged side for the short trip across town. Eric Smith was ruled out with a muscle problem, but Lars Ritzka did return to the squad and took his place on the bench. HSV coach Steffen Baumgart also saw no reason to change his formation after the comfortable 4-0 victory at Eintracht Braunschweig, though he was without the ailing Bakery Jatta.

The situation going into the 12^th second-division derby between the two sides was clear. Three points for the Boys in Brown would see them clinch promotion, while the home side had to win to keep their hopes alive. Both sides also had one eye on the outcome of the game between fellow promotion-chasers Fortuna Düsseldorf and FC Nürnberg, which kicked off at the same time.

Neither side wasted any time getting going and there was no let-up in the intensity as the half wore on. The first chance of the game fell to the home side in the eighth minute when Immanuël Pherai met a clearance first-time on the volley from distance, and goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj had to dive low to his right to keep it out. At the other end the Hürzeler XI registered a few half-chances, but nothing more than that. A string of misplaced passes meant the game was low on quality, and with both defences keeping things tight at the back, the two sides remained largely anonymous in attack.

Somewhat out of the blue HSV capitalised on a mistake by the Hürzeler XI in their own penalty area on 20 minutes to fashion two huge chances, the first of which, a shot from Robert Glatzel, was cleared by Karol Mets just before it could cross the line with Vasilj well beaten. The keeper quickly recovered to defuse the rebound effort from Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer to the relief of everyone in brown and white. The pace of the game picked up midway through the half and the first chance for the Boys in Brown soon followed. Connor Metcalfe crossed from the left to the back post, where Oladapo Afolayan outjumped Miro Muheim, only for HSV keeper Matheo Raab to make the save. Sixty seconds later the home side were celebrating when Glatzel found the net, but referee Dr Matthias Jöllenbeck ruled that the striker had fouled Manolis Saliakas in the run-up, a decision that remained unchanged after a review by the VAR.

The game ebbed and flowed and Jackson Irvine picked out Afolayan in space on the right and he in turn knocked a perfectly timed ball in to the unmarked Marcel Hartel. The No10 failed to make a proper contact from 10 metres, however, though Aljoscha Kemlein got his head to Hartel's mishit effort and forced Raab into the save. The loose ball trundled towards the left-hand upright with Kemlein in hot pursuit, but he was unable to get there on time. Nine minutes later HSV went close when a deep cross from Pherai found its way to Königsdörffer, whose effort from an acute angle struck the outside of the post. Back at the other end an Afolayan cross was headed wide left by Johannes Eggestein. That was the last action of note and the two sides went in scoreless at the break. Over in Düsseldorf, Fortuna took a 2-0 lead into the dressing-room at half-time.

Johannes Eggestein heads narrowly wide just before the interval.

Both teams emerged unchanged for the second half. With Düsseldorf leading at the break, the onus was on HSV to win the game to avoid being left six points behind Fortuna with a vastly inferior goal difference, which would have made it virtually impossible for them to reach third place. In contrast, the Boys in Brown were not minded to play for a draw given their chance of sealing promotion with victory in the derby. The stage was thus set for 45 minutes of high drama.

It remained a high-intensity affair, with neither side giving an inch. As in the first half, however, there was little action to speak of in either penalty box. The stadium erupted on 63, though, when the home side had the ball in the net and Jöllenbeck awarded the goal, even though Nikola Vasilj had been prevented from claiming a Königsdörffer cross by a hefty challenge from Łukasz Poręba in the goal area. The referee had another look at it on the touchline and gave the foul – the correct decision.

Four minutes later the Boys in Brown launched their first decent attack of the second period when Metcalfe dispatched a low ball into the box from the left and the advancing Irvine came within a whisker of getting a decisive touch on it. Elsewhere, Fortuna Düsseldorf had restored their two-goal advantage after Nürnberg had pulled one back. HSV stepped up the pressure as the game entered the final quarter of an hour, but the brown-and-white rearguard stood firm. Pherai headed well over on 76 before Vasilj gathered a fierce long-range drive from Königsdörffer at the second attempt.

Hürzeler made his first substitution in the 78^th minute, introducing Etienne Amenyido for the tireless Johannes Eggestein. Almost immediately, Pherai clipped the top of the crossbar with a free-kick from the corner of the box, and then Kemlein was unable to get any control on his finish from a low ball in by Afolayan. Back at the other end, Metcalfe blocked a Königsdörffer shot at the expense of a corner, from which the home side took the lead. Vasilj misjudged the flight of the ball, allowing Glatzel to head home beyond Irvine's despairing leap on the line.

Hürzeler responded immediately, throwing on Lars Ritzka and Elias Saad for Connor Metcalfe and Aljoscha Kemlein and then Andreas Albers for Oladapo Afolayan. His team were left with just minutes to rescue a point, but they were unable to do so even though Vasilj saved a Reis penalty in time added on.

Hamburger SV

Raab - Reis, Hadžikadunić, Schonlau, Muheim - Meffert (van der Brempt 86'), Poręba (Suhonen 70'), Pherai - Königsdörffer (Okugawa 86'), Glatzel (Németh 90'+3), Dompé (Öztunali 90'+2)

Head coach: Steffen Baumgart

FC St. Pauli

Vasilj - Nemeth, Wahl, Mets - Saliakas, Irvine, Kemlein (Saad 86'), Metcalfe (Ritzka 86') - Afolayan (Albers 88'), Eggestein (Amenyido 78'), Hartel

Head coach: Fabian Hürzeler

Goal: 1-0 Glatzel (85')

Yellow cards: Muheim, Meffert – Metcalfe, Saliakas

Red card (second yellow): Saliakas (persistent foul play 90'+5)

Referee: Dr Matthias Jöllenbeck (Freiburg)

Attendance: 57,000 (sold out)

Photos: Witters