FC St. Pauli

It was down to business for the Boys in Brown on day four of training camp, with Fabian Hürzeler's team contesting their first friendly in South Tyrol against Austrian top-division club Austria Lustenau. The FCSP coach made five changes to the side that beat Randers FC 4-1 last time out. Luca Günther, Hauke Wahl, Jackson Irvine, Carlo Boukhalfa and Andreas Albers made way for Manolis Saliakas, Jakov Medić, Marcel Hartel, Connor Metcalfe and David Otto. 

The Boys in Brown got off to a flying start at the Hugo Ciatti Stadium in St. Martin, taking the lead after just 20 seconds. After Connor Metcalfe had burst forward, Etienne Amenyido laid the ball off for the advancing Manolis Saliakas, who whipped in a cross towards the penalty spot. It rebounded off a defender to Marcel Hartel, who stuck it in the bottom left corner. Buoyed by the early lead, the Hürzeler XI kept pushing and went 2-0 up in the sixth minute through David Otto, and followed up with a third just four minutes later when Hartel got on the scoresheet again after nicking the ball off a defender in the box, rounding the keeper and slotting into the empty net to complete a textbook opening.

There was no let up in the ensuing period, with the Boys in Brown knocking the ball around nicely and repeatedly playing their way into the danger areas in front of the Lustenau goal. And with 25 minutes gone, Dapo Afolayan got in behind the defence and left keeper Ammar Helac no chance with a filigree chip to make it 4-0. Then, in the 32nd minute, Connor Metcalfe added to the tally, cutting inside from the right and drilling a shot in at the near post with his potent left foot.

Five minutes before the break, Lustenau reduced the deficit, rather unluckily from a St. Pauli point of view, when Anderson smacked a right-foot shot from 20 metres against the post, from where it struck Nikola Vasilj on the back and rebounded into the net. Otto had a headed goal disallowed for offside just before half-time, and so the two sides went in at half-time with the score at 5-1.

Connor Metcalfe takes the plaudits of his teammates after making it 5-0.

Hürzeler fielded a completely new team for the second half. New acquisition Danel Sinani made his first appearance on the wing, but it was his teammate on the other flank who caught the eye early on. Elias Saad dribbled his way into the penalty area from the left with a quick feint and fizzed a shot a whisker past the near post. With an hour gone, Sinani came very close to scoring his first goal in a brown-and-white jersey but was denied when the Lustenau keeper got down quickly to make the save. 

The sixth goal eventually arrived on 64 minutes, however, Sinani delivering a perfect corner for Johannes Eggestein to head home before the two teams took a short drinks break. Eggestein almost added another a quarter of an hour before the end, latching onto a lovely through ball and pulling the trigger from just outside the area, only for Helac to block. Moments later, it was seven. Saad again got the better of his marker in a one-on-one and his deep cross found David Nemeth at the back post, and he headed in from close range.

In the closing stages, keeper Sascha Burchert had to pull the stops following a wayward ball in the build-up from Lars Ritzka that let an opponent in, and it ended 7-1 for the Boys in Brown, their fourth win out of four in pre-season. Next up for the Hürzeler XI are Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday (15.00 CET).

FC St. Pauli

Vasilj (Burchert 46') - Medić (Nemeth 46'), Smith (Boukhalfa 46'), Mets (Dźwigała 46') - Saliakas (Günther 46'), Metcalfe (Aremu 46'), Hartel (Eggestein 46'), Treu (Ritzka 46') - Afolayan (Sinani 46'), Otto (Albers 46'), Amenyido (Saad 46')

Head coach: Fabian Hürzeler

Austria Lustenau

Helac - Anderson, Mätzler, Grujcic - Gmeiner, Maak, Grabher, Marte - Surdanovic (Rhein 46') - Fridrikas, Schmid

Head coach: Markus Mader

Goals: 1-0 Hartel (1'), 2-0 Otto (6'), 3-0 Hartel (10'), 4-0 Afolayan (25'), 5-0 Metcalfe (32'), 5-1 Vasil (o.g. 40'), 6-1 Eggestein (64'), 7-1 Nemeth (74')

Yellow card: Marte

Photos: FC St. Pauli