FC St. Pauli

Head coach Jos Luhukay went into the game without several injured or ailing players, while others were away on international duty. On the positive side, three members of the squad celebrated a return to action after lengthy injury layoffs. Henk Veerman (ten months on the sidelines), Philipp Ziereis (nine) and Luca Zander (seven) all featured in the starting lineup. Bremen were also missing several players due to injury or international duty, including former St. Pauli man Fin Bartels.

Operating with a back three and two men up top, Jos Luhukay's side came flying out of the traps and created several chances early on. First, Christopher Buchtmann pinged a cross to Borys Tashchy, who was denied by Werder keeper Stefanos Kapino from close range, a fate suffered by Rico Benatelli following an exquisite pass from Zander sixty seconds later. Then, on 12 minutes, Tashchy pulled the trigger from just outside the box after Werder had lost possession, only to see the ball fly a whisker past the left-hand post.

Bremen mounted their first meaningful spell of pressure around the 20-minute mark. Eren Dinkci dragged a shot off target and then Leonardo Bittencourt displayed a similar lack of accuracy. The action soon switched to the other end, though, and Kevin Lankford saw a shot deflect wide before Ziereis, up for a corner, steered an effort just over the crossbar.

The best chance to that point fell to Christopher Buchtmann, who popped up in front of Kapino following a pass from Lankford. But once again, the Werder keeper produced a decent stop to keep it at 0-0. Kapino then tipped a Johannes Flum free-kick over the top and defused attempts from Tashchy and Buchtmann. Two minutes later the keeper finally looked beaten, but Veerman's square ball to Tashchy had a touch too much on it and it remained 0-0.

Somewhat out of the blue by this stage, Werder launched another attack. The advancing Theodor Gebre Selassie fed the ball to Dinkci, whose shot from eight metres flew wide of the right-hand upright. Robin Himmelmann was then given his first chance to shine, denying the visitors the lead with a fine save from Bittencourt. At the other end, Veerman latched onto a through ball and tried to outwit Kapino with a lob, but the Werder keeper was wise to the danger. The referee then brought the proceedings to a halt and the two sides went in goalless at the end of an entertaining first half.

Henk Veerman came close to scoring just before the break on his return to action.

Jos Luhukay made three changes at the interval, with returnees Ziereis and Veerman among those making way. The first chance fell to the visitors, but David Philipp's shot was no problem for Himmelmann. Almost immediately, substitute Christian Conteh forced his way down the left and directed a shot just past the far post. The youngster had more luck in the role of provider a few minutes later, cutting the ball back for fellow substitute Youba Diarra to smash an unstoppable shot past Kapino into the top-right corner from the edge of the D.

The Boys in Brown continued to surge forward and Benatelli rattled the crossbar with a fierce drive from the edge of the area. What a goal that would have been! Soon after that, Luhukay withdrew the third returnee in Luca Zander.

It remained an entertaining affair, albeit with slightly fewer chances than in the first period. On 74, Conteh launched another promising attack down the left after being played in by Diarra. The winger drove into the box but once again Kapino was not to be beaten. The closing stages produced little of note and so it ended in a deserved 1-0 win for the Boys in Brown.

FC St. Pauli

Himmelmann - Carstens, Ziereis (Hornschuh 46'), Kalla - Zander (Sobota 62'), Flum (Brandt 77'), Benatelli, Lankford (Conteh 46') - Buchtmann - Veerman (Diarra 46'), Tashchy (Dursun 83')

Head coach: Jos Luhukay

SV Werder Bremen

Kapino - Gebre Selassie (Pudic 65'), Langkamp (Becker 83'), Gross (Nawrocki 46'), Straudi, Gruev, Bargfrede (Park 65'), Bittencourt (Woltemade 65'), Dinkci (Ihorst 46'), Poznanski, Philipp

Head coach: Florian Kohfeldt

Goal: 1-0 Diarra (52')

Gelbe Karten: –

Referee: Florian Heft (Neuenkirchen)

Attendance: 12,679

Photos: Witters