FC St. Pauli

The game kicked off in bright sunshine and 26 degrees against a wonderful mountain backdrop. In the opening stages the Boys in Brown had more of the game and created two chances for Oladapo Afolayan early on. The Englishman was first denied by KSC keeper Hans Christian Bernat from 10 metres before dragging an effort well wide from a narrow angle. After Lilian Egloff had placed a shot just past the left-hand upright on 14 minutes, the Boys in Brown went straight back up the other end, where Mathias Pereira Lage followed suit by firing a whisker past the left-hand post. Operating as a No10, Connor Metcalfe saw a shot saved by Bernat after being teed up by Afolayan. And two minutes later the Boys in Brown took the lead from a corner. Louis Oppie hit it low into the box to Pereira Lage, who knocked it back to the corner-taker. His cross took a slight deflection before being headed in by the unmarked Adam Dźwigała from six metres. Blessin's side continued to hog the possession. With Karlsruhe content to sit back, they knocked the ball around nicely and doubled their advantage through Metcalfe on 29 minutes. Again teed up by Afolayan, he struck a pinpoint drive beyond Bernat into the far corner. 

Both sides resumed unchanged after the first quarter. The pattern of the game remained much the same, too, with the Boys in Brown continuing to dominate. The lively Afolayan hit a lovely cross into the middle from the left and found Pereira Lage, whose header fizzed just over the top. Joel Chima Fujita almost made it 3-0 in the 38^th minute, but his shot from the edge of the area struck the left-hand upright. Sixty seconds later it was 3-0. Pereira Lage nicked the ball off a defender in the KSC box and squared it to Afolayan, whose initial effort was saved by Bernat, but the Karlsruhe custodian could do nothing to keep out the rebound. Pereira Lage then set his sights on the top right corner from just inside the box, only to aim just too high. Blessin made his first substitution with 45 minutes gone, Metcalfe making way for Scott Banks. KSC began to show a bit more resistance but were never able to threaten, leaving Nikola Vasilj with precious little to do. At the other end, Afolayan was left too much space near the corner of the box, but Bernat gathered his shot with aplomb. Afolayan was in the action again a few minutes later, picking out Pereira Lage with a ball into the box. His header was held at the second attempt by Bernat. Karlsruhe did register one attempt just before half-time, a 25-metre effort form Roko Šimić that sailed some distance over the crossbar. 

Oladapo Afolayan, seen here driving past Roko Šimić, was virtually unstoppable in the first period.

As expected, Blessin rang the changes at the interval, with Banks the only player to re-appear. And Banks had the first chance after the restart after winning possession on the edge of the box, but Bernat was alert to the danger. The KSC shotstopper also dealt with long-rang effort from Under-23 midfielder Rawley St. John six minutes later, but there was nothing he could do three minutes after that when Danel Sinani fired into the bottom right corner from 22 metres. As in the first period, Karlsruhe barely got near the FCSP box, with the Boys in Brown going about their business off the ball very well. Sinani curled a 25-metre free-kick over the wall, but watched the ball fly a good metre past the angle. Soon after, however, KSC pulled one back out of the blue following a long ball over the top to Ali-Eren Ersungur, who passed for Louey Ben Farhat to beat Ben Voll from close range.

The Boys in Brown, now with Nick Schmidt on for Lars Ritzka, continued to dictate the proceedings in the final quarter. A fine passing move on 95 saw Arkadiusz Pyrka unload from the left channel, only to see his effort blocked. Sinani then won the ball in the box and knocked it to Ceesay in the middle, but he got underneath it and cleared the crossbar. Another pass from Sinani found Andréas Hountondji, who was denied from 12 metres by KSC substitute keeper Aki Koch. He was left powerless a few minutes later, however. After punching a corner clear, Koch was left stretching in vain when a 22-metre shot from Pyrka took a deflection before finding the net. Blessin's charges were still not satisfied. In the 106^th minute, St. John won possession on the halfway line and set up Ceesay, who took the ball round Koch and slid a shot into the empty net. That was the end of the action, and it ended in a deserved 6-1 victory.

Karlsruher SC

Bernat (Koch 91') – Jung (Pinto Pedrosa 78'), Rapp (Franke 91'; Kobald 106'), Franke (Scholl 78'), Kobald (Kritzer 78'), Herold (Sonn 78') – Müller (Wäschenbach 78'), Egloff (Burnić 61'), Wanitzek (Geller 78')– Schleusener (Ben Farhat 61'), Šimić (Ersungur 78')

Head coach: Christian Eichner

FC St. Pauli

1st half: Vasilj – Dźwigała, Wahl, Robatsch – Stevens, Schmitz, Fujita, Oppie – Metcalfe (Banks 45') – Afolayan, Pereira Lage

2nd half: Voll – Westphal, Nemeth, Ritzka (Schmidt 91') – Pyrka, Sands, St. John, Ahlstrand – Sinani, Hountondji, Banks (Ceesay 77')

Head coach: Alexander Blessin

Goals: 0-1 Dźwigała (18'), 0-2 Metcalfe (29'), 0-3 Afolayan (39'), 0-4 Sinani (72'), 1-4 Ben Farhat (86'), 1-5 Pyrka (102'), 1-6 Ceesay (106')

Yellow cards: Burnić – Sinani

Attendance: approx. 500

Photos: FC St. Pauli