BOYS IN BROWN HELD BY LAUTERN
Friday, 13. October 2017, 21:33 Uhr
St. Pauli were unable to seal their second home win of the season against Kaiserslautern in front of a sell-out 29,546 crowd at the Millerntor on Friday evening. The Boys in Brown dictated the proceedings for much of the game and took a deserved 63rd minute lead through Sami Allagui, only for Martin Andersson to head the equaliser 14 minutes later.
After securing their fourth away win of the season at Braunschweig last time out, a tally unmatched by any other second-division club, Olaf Janßen's side went into the game looking to send the fans home happy with another three points at the Millerntor. The St. Pauli boss made two changes to his starting lineup, Johannes Flum and Christopher Buchtmann getting the nod in midfield.
With both sides operating from a solid rearguard, much of the early exchanges unfolded in this area of the pitch. The Boys in Brown elected to defend a little deeper than usual with the intention of hitting the visitors on the break, a tactic that produced their best opportunities. They rarely found their way into the danger area, however, as all too often the final ball was lacking. But with 16 minutes gone, Cenk Sahin and Luca Zander combined neatly on the right and Buchtmann only narrowly failed to get on the end of the Werder loanee's cross.
The visitors, for their part, had begun with a back three but were unable to create any chances of note and thus switched to a 4-4-2 formation. The Boys in Brown had more of the possession as a result, albeit without the space they had enjoyed previously. Sahin did fashion an opening for Sami Allagui with a delightful lofted pass into the box on 39, but with only FCK goalkeeper Marius Müller to beat he blazed his shot over the crossbar.
The Boys in Brown were the better side in a hard-fought affair but the two teams went in goalless at the break.
The pattern remained much the same after the interval. Janßen's team dominated the play yet continued to lack punch. Lautern also struggled to get going, leaving keeper Robin Himmelmann with precious little to do. But then, in the 63rd minute, Benjamin Kessel looked to have given away a penalty with a foul on Johannes Flum, but the ball bounced to Allagui, and he rifled a shot inside the post from 20 metres to give his side a deserved lead.
The game was all the better for it because now the visitors were compelled to push forward, which gave the Boys in Brown more space in which to launch their dangerous counterthrusts. Substitute Mats Møller Dæhli would have added a second on 74 had Müller not got down quickly enough to turn the ball round the post for a corner. But then, virtually out of the blue, Martin Andersson got on the end of a corner and headed home the equaliser. Janßen's side rallied once more in the closing stages but were unable to break down the Kaiserslautern defence a second time.
FC St. Pauli
Himmelmann – Zander, Avevor, Sobiech, Dudziak – Nehrig, Flum – Sobota (Møller Dæhli 64'), Buchtmann, Sahin (Litka 87') – Allagui
Head coach: Olaf Janßen
FC Kaiserslautern
Müller – Kessel, Vucur, Malagnini – Mwene (Borello 85'), Fechner, Moritz, Hanna – Kwadwo (Atik 76'), Kastaneer (Osawe 59') – Andersson
Head coach: Jeff Strasser
Goals: 1-0 Allagui (63'), 1-1 Andersson (77')
Referee: Sascha Stegemann
Yellow cards: Kessel
Attendance: 29,546 (sold out)
Photos: Witters
