FC St. Pauli

A crowd just shy of 4,500 defied the Hamburg weather to make their way to the Millerntor, where they saw a committed performance from the Boys in Brown. Going into the game head coach Olaf Janßen had already indicated that he intended to offer plenty of players some match practice. "The game is a great opportunity for me to see all my players under competitive conditions," he said. Janßen made five changes to the team that was unlucky to lose 1-0 at Union Berlin last week. Fit-again Cenk Sahin was among those to return to the side.

The Boys in Brown made it clear from the outset that they were out to dominate on home turf, keeping a high line and pressing their opponents early. But it was the visitors from Denmark who registered the first attempt with a third-minute free-kick that flew wide right of Robin Himmelmann's goal. Odense had another go four minutes later, this time with a low shot from around 20 metres that fizzed past the left-hand upright.

Moments later the home crowd were celebrating what they thought was the opening goal. Waldemar Sobota stuck out a foot to deflect a long-range effort from Kyoungrok Choi into the net, only to be adjudged offside. The game settled down around the tenth minute and the visitors enjoyed a slight edge. Rasmus Festersen tried his luck from distance on 16, but he could only find the side netting. Around ten minutes later the visitors created another opening. Edmundsson's ball in found no takers, however. The Boys in Brown responded with a free-kick to Lasse Sobiech, who had ample time to control the ball in the inside left channel but was unable to find a teammate in the middle. Christopher Buchtmann latched onto the rebound and rifled a 25-metre effort just wide of the left-hand post.

Five minutes later the Boys in Brown had the ball in the net again and this time it counted. Cenk Sahin produced a peach of a pass from midfield to find Aziz Bouhaddouz and the Moroccan striker fired in at the near post with a crisp drop kick from 15 metres. Janßen's side began to increase their grip on the proceedings and just before half-time they were awarded a penalty when Ryan Laursen fouled Buchtmann in the box. Bouhaddouz didn't need to be asked twice and dispatched the spot-kick for his second goal of the night.

Janßen rang the changes at half-time, sending out a completely new team, whereas Odense restricted themselves to three substitutions. The new-look side hit the ground running and Maurice Litka hit a free-kick just wide from 25 metres two minutes in. Going forward their tactics resembled those from the most recent home game against Aue. Yiyoung Park dropped back between the two central defenders, allowing Jan-Philipp Kalla and Daniel Buballa to push forward down the flanks. The Boys in Brown were now much the busier side and allowed the visitors little space in which to get going.

Nevertheless, it took until the 62^nd minute for the next decent chance to arrive. When the visitors lost possession going forward, Sami Allagui was able to unleash a shot on goal, but under a late challenge from a defender he dragged his effort narrowly off target. A lull in the action ensued, with both teams giving little away at the back.

The next highlight was initiated by a youngster. Christian Viet, who normally runs out for the Under-19s, skipped past a defender on the right and teed up Allagui with a low ball into the middle. His shot missed the upright by a whisker. In the 80^th minute the visitors made the game a contest again when Edmundsson met a corner at the near post and nodded past Philipp Heerwagen to make it 2-1.

Odense launched a final onslaught in the last ten minutes but were unable to fashion any chances of note, allowing the Boys in Brown to exploit the spaces on the counter. Maurice Litka sent Allagui clear on 85, but his square ball to Jan-Marc Schneider lacked the necessary precision. Two minutes later the No11 produced a clinical finish to settle it, though, shrugging off the challenge of a defender to curl a shot into the top right-hand corner from around 10 metres.

FC St. Pauli

1^st half: Himmelmann - Zander, Sobiech, Carstens, Keller - Nehrig - Sahin, Choi, Buchtmann, Sobota - Bouhaddouz

2^nd half: Heerwagen - Kalla, Schoppenhauer, Avevor, Buballa - Viet, Flum, Park, Litka - Schneider, Allagui

Head coach: Olaf Janßen

Odense BK

Mikkelsen - K. Petersen, Laursen, Pereira, Tverskov, Edmundsson (Weber 74'), Festersen (Harboe 74'), Nielsen (Jönsson 46'), Uzochukwu (Welbeck-Maseko 46'), Thrane (Jacobsen 74'), M. Petersen (Puggaard 46')

Head coach: Kent Nielsen

Goals: 1-0 Bouhaddouz (33'), 2-0 Bouhaddouz (pen. 41'), 2-1 Edmundsson (80'), 3-1 Allagui (87')

Yellow cards: None

Referee: Sven Jablonski (Bremen)

Attendance: 4,498

Photos: Witters