FC St. Pauli

Markus Kauczinski opted for a 4-4-2 formation against the team that knocked his side out of the DFB Cup at the first hurdle back in August. Alex Meier partnered Dimitrios Diamantakos up front. After a couple of chances for Christopher Buchtmann and Diamantakos in the opening stages, the Boys in Brown took the lead in the 14^th minute. Waldemar Sobota fed Diamantakos, who popped up in front of Wehen keeper Markus Kolke in the inside-left channel and left Luca Zander the simple task of tapping home at the far post. The lead was maintained until the opening drinks break on the half-hour, but immediately after the restart the third-division side levelled the scores when Schäffler guided a Maximilian Dittgen delivery into the far corner to make it 1-1.

The game remained an open affair with quick forays from both teams, with only the final ball lacking. But on 42 minutes the Boys in Brown suffered a bitter blow when Philipp Ziereis sustained a knee injury in a challenge with Marcel Titsch Rivero. The central defender was replaced by Florian Carstens. Within six minutes, however, Kauczinski's charges were back in front. Sobota's initial effort drew a fine reflex save from Kolke, but Meier was on hand to stick the rebound into the bottom corner.

Kauczinski made eight changes for the second 60-minute half, with only Florian Carstens, Luca Zander and Dimitrios Diamantakos reappearing after the interval. On 71 minutes the St. Pauli boss was forced to make another injury-related substitution when Zander hobbled off after suffering a blow to his left foot. He was replaced by Marc Hornschuh.

Jan-Marc Schneider then came on for Diamantakos. After further chances for Finn Ole Becker and Allagui the game went into the final drinks break with the score still 2-1 to the Boys in Brown, who resumed with two fresh players in Ersin Zehir and Luis Coordes for Brian Koglin and Richard Neudecker. The two sides largely cancelled each other out in the ensuing period, but in the 101^st minute Wiesbaden equalised somewhat unexpectedly on the break. Florian Hansch knocked the ball in from the left and Simon Brandstetter headed home.

Six minutes later Luis Coordes became the third St. Pauli player to go off injured, Neudecker returned to the action in his place. Schneider almost restored his side's advantage with a shot from just outside the box that came down a touch too late following a fine pass from Becker. But on the stroke of full-time the Boys in Brown did find a winner when Becker was brought down in the area by Rene Guder and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Allagui stepped up and smashed the ball down the middle to seal a 3-2 victory.

Commenting after the final whistle, Markus Kauczinski said: "Luca Zander has a problem with his ankle but I don't think it's too bad. As for Philipp Ziereis, It's too early to say. We've sent him to hospital for a scan. It might be bad." Turning his attention to the game, he said: "We had some good phases and were in front. Early in the second half, however, we gave the opposition a few chances and let the game slip. We picked up the pace again in the final quarter and went out in search of a winner, even though the players were tired after a long time on the pitch. It was a narrow victory, but we can live with that in the end."

Lineup – 1^st half:

Himmelmann - Zander, Ziereis (Carstens 42'), Avevor, Buballa - Sahin, Knoll, Buchtmann, Sobota - Diamantakos, Meier

Lineup – 2^nd half:

Brodersen – Zander (Hornschuh 71'), Koglin (Zehir 91'), Carstens, Kalla – Neudecker (Coordes 91' / Neudecker 107'), Flum, Dudziak, Becker – Allagui, Diamantakos (Schneider 77')

Goals: 1-0 Zander (14'), 1-1 Schäffler (31'), 2-1 Meier (47'), 2-2 Brandstetter (101'), 3-2 Allagui (pen. 119')