FC St. Pauli

Rigorous training during the week followed by a warm-up game to kick off the weekend. FC St. Pauli may be a little different in some aspects, but they cannot ignore the natural course of pre‑season preparations. And thus Olaf Janssen's side found themselves at the Bremer Brücke in Osnabrück this Friday evening. In VfL Osnabrück, the Boys in Brown were up against tough opposition. The third-tier outfit finished sixth after a decent campaign last season and will no doubt be among the challengers again next term.

The home side had the first opportunity of the game after just three minutes when Bashkim Renneke popped up in front of Philipp Heerwagen, only to be denied by the St. Pauli custodian. Undaunted by the early pressure, the Boys in Brown put together some nice moves going forward. So nice in fact, that they took the lead in the tenth minute. Given time on the right-hand side, Cenk Sahin spotted Daniel Buballa at the far post and the full-back had no problem sliding home the cross to open the scoring.

The hosts enjoyed more of the play in the following 20 minutes but were unable to find a way through. It was a very different story at the other end, however. From an Osnabrück corner on 32, Waldemar Sobota and Sahin combined to break quickly and the latter found Allagui with a pass straight out of the textbook. The new signing produced a clinical finish, chipping the ball over the keeper's head to double the lead. Seven minutes later the visitors struck again. Aziz Bouhaddouz forced his way down the left and delivered a cross to the unmarked Allagui at the back stick. The former Hertha man timed his leap perfectly to head the ball home and give his side a convincing 3-0 half-time lead.

Olaf Janssen made just one change for the second half, Mats Møller Dæhli coming on for Aziz Bouhaddouz. Unlike in the first half, his charges had the game under control and were clearly the better side. Nevertheless, goalscoring opportunities remained a rarity. Substitute Møller Dæhli had the first attempt on goal on the hour. The Norwegian skipped past a defender with a nifty feint and then pulled the trigger, but Paterok was alert to the danger and made the save. Nothing much happened after that until Schoppenhauer hit the crossbar on 81 and Allagui went close four minutes later, and thus it ended 3-0 to the Boys in Brown.

Head coach Olaf Janssen said: "The lads showed a great attitude from the opening minute. They all wanted to stake a claim, they combined well and they supported each other. It was very good for the duration of the game as well because Osnabrück made several changes and we didn’t."

VfL Osnabrück

Paterok – Falkenberg (Ruschmeier 46'), Engel, Appiah, Tigges – Gross (Kristo 61'), Arslan (Schulz 46') – Renneke (Heider 46'), Danneberg, Reimerink (Krasniqi 61') – Wriedt (Bickel 61')

Head coach: Joe Enochs

FC St. Pauli

Heerwagen - Kalla, Schoppenhauer, Sobiech, Buballa - Sahin, Flum, Buchtmann, Sobota – Bouhaddouz (Møller Dæhli 46'), Allagui

Head coach: Olaf Janssen

Attendance: 2,500

Goals: 1-0 Buballa (10'), 0:2 Allagui (32'), 0:3 Allagui (40')

Photos: Witters