FC St. Pauli

Head coach Alexander Blessin made one adjustment to the side that beat Union Berlin 3-0 last time out, Eric Smith returning from a one-match ban to replace the injured Lars Ritzka. There were two more changes on the bench, where Siebe Van der Heyden and Adam Dźwigała, the latter back from a two-game suspension, took the places of Emil Staugaard and Erik Ahlstrand. Visitors Augsburg also made one change after the 2-1 defeat of Heidenheim, Kristijan Jakić coming in for Arne Maier.

Before the game got underway a minute's silence in honour of the victims of the Holocaust was accompanied by a magnificent choreography across all four stands. The Millerntor was unusually quiet as the teams took to the field as there was no Hells Bells being belted out today, and then the silence was broken and the chant of "All! Together! Against fascism!" rang round the ground.

Neither team was able to gain the edge in the opening stages, and though the Boys in Brown looked the more likely side going forward, their attacking efforts ran out of steam before they could penetrate the Augsburg penalty area. It took until the 17^th minute for the first opportunity of note to arrive, but it immediately led to a goal. The Blessin XI pounced on a wayward opposition pass and quickly switched the play. James Sands fed Morgan Guilavogui on the right and he delivered a ball into the middle, where Philip Treu belied his height to outjump the hesitant Marius Wolf and direct a header towards goal. Finn Dahmen could only parry the ball and Treu's rebound effort was bundled over the line by the hapless Noahkai Banks to open the scoring.

The Boys in Brown continued to run a tight ship at the back and ten minutes after breaking the deadlock they switched the turbo on again. Guilavogui was left in acres of space on the right once more, and after collecting a pass from Johannes Eggestein the striker hit a low ball into the middle, where Weißhaupt beat Wolf to the ball, only for the latter to get a toe in the way of the shot. Augsburg had come to the Millerntor on the back of three successive victories, but they were virtually anonymous in attack. Building from a solid base, the Blessin XI had more of the game and were simply better moving the ball forward. There were to be no further chances before the break, however.

A minute's silence was observed before the game in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.

Arne Maier replaced Elvis Rexhbecaj for the visitors, but the pattern remained much the same after the restart. The Boys in Brown continued to keep things tight at the back and some aggressive tackling ensured Augsburg struggled to get going, and when they finally managed to work their way into the box via Wolf on 54 minutes, the right wing-back was in an offside position when Samuel Essende fluffed his attempt on goal. Then, with just over an hour gone, Guilavogui took a knock after a hefty challenge by Dimitrios Giannoulis and had to make way for Oladapo Afolayan (61.).

There was little in the way of action in either penalty area, but the Blessin XI remained the livelier side going forward. Genuine chances remained an absolute rarity, and the game became a more bruising affair without going beyond what was acceptable. The quality of the play suffered as a result, however, with lots of high-intensity tackling dominating the proceedings.

With the game entering the final quarter of an hour, Manolis Saliakas was forced off by injury, resulting in Siebe Van der Heyden making his first-team debut. Danel Sinani also entered the fray for Johannes Eggestein. The visitors stepped up the pressure in a bid to conjure up an equaliser and fashioned their first chance of the game in the 81^st minute when Steve Mounié headed over from Robert Gumny's cross.

Two minutes later, the visitors levelled with their second attempt on goal, substitute Mert Kömür meeting a Dimitrios Giannoulis on the volley to find the bottom right corner. Nikola Vasilj had had nothing to do until that point but was powerless to prevent the ball going in.

Two minutes from time Elias Saad celebrated this return to action after almost four months out with injury, Weißhaupt the man to make way. And less than 120 seconds after coming on, he came agonisingly close to getting on the end of a ball in from Afolayan. Seven minutes of stoppage time failed to produce any further chances, and the Blessin XI had to settle for a point.

FC St. Pauli

Vasilj - Wahl, Smith, Nemeth - Saliakas ( Van der Heyden 80'), Irvine, Sands, Treu - Guilavogui (Afolayan 61'), Eggestein (Sinani 80'), Weißhaupt (Saad 88')

Head coach: Alexander Blessin

FC Augsburg

Dahmen - Matsima, Gouweleeuw, Banks (Mounié 79') - Wolf (Gumny 70'), Onyeka (Kömür 70'), Jakić, Giannoulis - Claude-Maurice, Rexhbecaj (Maier 46') - Essende (Tietz 60')

Head coach: Jess Thorup

Goals: 1-0 Banks (o.g. 17'), 1-1 Kömür (82')

Yellow cards: Eggestein – Banks, Giannoulis

Referee: Tobias Reichel (Sindelfingen)

Attendance: 29,546 (sold out)

Photos: FC St. Pauli/Witters