FC St. Pauli has come a big step closer to promotion to the Bundesliga. The Hamburg team won 1-0 (0-0) against FC Hansa Rostock on matchday 31 of the 2nd league and at least temporarily moved to the top of the table. Feared fan riots did not materialize.
Holstein Kiel can push the neighborhood club back out of first place on Saturday with a win against 1. FC Kaiserslautern (1 p.m., in the live center at >). What is already certain, however, is that the lead of coach Fabian Hürzeler’s team over third-placed Fortuna from Düsseldorf (playing at Schalke 04 on Saturday at 8:30 p.m.) will still be at least five points.
To the live ticker: St. Pauli – Rostock arrow right 31st matchday arrow right
A cushion of points that should actually be enough three match days before the end of the season to make it to the first floor. St. Pauli has already secured third place in the relegation zone.
Captain Jackson Irvine scored the decisive goal with a header (52nd) on Friday evening in the Millerntorstadion, which was completely sold out with 29,000 spectators. Rostock sold themselves dearly, but remained too harmless in attack. The Mecklenburgers can slip to direct relegation place 17 on Saturday if Kaiserslautern scores in Kiel.
HSV loanee David prevents St. Pauli from taking the lead
St. Pauli had almost 70 percent possession of the ball in the first half, but were unable to put the guests under sustained pressure. Hürzeler’s protégés repeatedly made wrong decisions in the final third of the field. Many attacks were rushed. The home team’s best chance before the break did not result from a combination, but from a break-out, after which Johannes Eggestein had a clear path towards the Hansa goal against the Rostock defense, which had moved too far.
What then followed was perhaps the trick of the season: HSV loanee Jonas David rushed up and chipped the ball off Eggestein’s foot at the last moment (41′).
Hansa strong, but unlucky in the finish
The neighborhood club didn’t have much more to offer offensively in the first half. Rostock was even the more dangerous team in a game that was played very intensely by both sides. Coach Mersad Selimbegovic’s team, which had changed six positions compared to the 2-0 defeat against 1. FC Magdeburg on the previous matchday, showed a very courageous and clever performance and repeatedly switched quickly after winning the ball through high pressing. However, as was the case throughout the season, the results remained room for improvement.
Ole Zeisler, Sportschau, April 26, 2024 9:40 p.m
Juan-José Perea was denied twice by keeper Nikola Vasilj (19th, 33rd). However, with his first chance, the Colombian was offside, so the goal would not have been recognized anyway. Nevertheless, the relegation candidate could be satisfied with his performance at halftime.
“Football God” Irvine scores from Hartel’s corner
After the break, the Mecklenburg team’s hopes of a surprise on the Reeperbahn were quickly dashed. First, Hansa was lucky that Aljoscha Kemlein put a header next to the goal (47th) and shortly afterwards failed with a lob to keeper Markus Kolke (52nd). With the corner kick that followed, seconds later, the Rostock team lost sight of one of the St. Paulians’ strongest headers in Irvine. The Australian, called “Football God” by his own fans with as much reverence as he was loving, nodded the standard kicked by Marcel Hartel into the net.
Rostock cannot find an answer to the deficit
Hansa tried to find an answer to the deficit. But the guests lacked the footballing resources to tear apart St. Pauli’s now much more secure defense. The Selimbegovic team simply couldn’t get any depth into their game. The home team was also stingy with successful offensive moves in the increasingly disjointed encounter.
It was clear to Hürzeler’s protégés that defending the narrowest of all leads was their top priority. It didn’t look pretty, but considering the importance of the victory it was practical and definitely legitimate.
“A derby is always something different with a certain amount of emotion. Lots of duels and we had little rhythm in the game. But based on the second half, I’m happy with the performance,” St. Pauli coach Fabian Hürzeler told ARD Sportschau after the game.
Ole Zeisler, Sportschau, April 26, 2024 9:38 p.m
Feared fan riots do not occur
While things got heated at times on the pitch, there were no clashes between the supporters of both clubs that had been feared in the run-up to the high-risk game. The Hamburg police said shortly before kick-off in the Millerntorstadion that everything remained calm. Two separate marches by fans of FC St. Pauli and FC Hansa Rostock also took place without major incidents, it was said.
The supporters of the two clubs have been hostile towards each other since the 1990s. There have been repeated, sometimes serious, riots at meetings between the northern clubs in recent years.
For many spectators, the journey to the stadium was made more difficult by a serious train accident at Hamburg Central Station. According to the police control center, a construction train derailed under the Ernst Merck Bridge in the afternoon when it crashed into the bridge. S-Bahn and long-distance traffic was significantly affected.
Match statistics FC St. Pauli – FC Hansa Rostock
Matchday 31, April 26, 2024 6:30 p.m
FC St. Pauli
1
FC Hansa Rostock
0
Tore:
FC St. Paul: Vasilj – Nemeth, Wahl, Mets – Saliakas, Irvine, Kemlein, Metcalfe (85. Dzwigala) – Afolayan (87. Amenyido), J. Eggestein (90.+3 Boukhalfa), Hartel
FC Hansa Rostock: Kolke – van der Werff (75. Stafylidis), David, Rossipal – Strauß, Vasiliadis (70. C. Kinsombi), Dressel, Ingelsson – Bachmann (84. Singh) – Perea (84. Gudjohnsen), Fröling (70. Pröger)
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Hamburg Journal | April 26, 2024 | 19:30 o’clock