FC St. Pauli

Head coach Alexander Blessin saw no reason to make a change after a decent showing by his side in the 1-0 home defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt. Johannes Eggestein, who missed out on Saturday due to illness, did not recover in time to make the squad. For Bochum, who kicked off the year with a 2-0 reverse at FSV Mainz, Erhan Masović, Kōji Miyoshi and Gerrit Holtmann began in place of Anthony Losilla, Tim Oermann and Moritz Broschinski.

A turnover in the St. Pauli half led to an opportunity for the home side after just 72 seconds. Maximilian Wittek smashed a shot on goal from 25 metres, but Nikola Vasilj was down quickly to his left to keep the ball out.  With both teams pressing early, the game never really got going in the opening stages. A string of fierce challenges dictated the proceedings, mostly well away from the two penalty areas. The Blessin XI fashioned their first chance in the tenth minute, though Morgan Guilavogui's effort from 20 metres out flew well off target. Six minutes later, Bochum custodian Patrick Drewes gathered a Jackson Irvine header following a corner from Danel Sinani.

The pattern remained much the same after that. Both sides lacked punch up front, and the majority of the action unfolded between the two penalty boxes. Then, with around half an hour gone, the home side almost took the lead out of the blue. A long ball forward from Matus Bero found the fleet-footed Gerrit Holtmann, who skipped past Hauke Wahl on the right-hand side and bore down on goal. The left winger set his sights on the far corner, but placed his shot narrowly wide of the upright to leave the Boys in Brown breathing a collective sigh of relief. Five minutes before the break they came close to celebrating at the other end when Oladapo Afolayan headed just over from close range. It would have been ruled out for offside, however, and the half ended goalless.

Both teams re-appeared unchanged for the second period. Bochum had the edge initially, but Bero failed to connect with a ball in from Philipp Hofmann and moments later Hofmann was denied by Vasilj from a ball in by Bero. Soon after that, Hofmann powered a header well wide from a Wittek cross. All those were more half-chances than anything else, but with 53 minutes gone the Boys in Brown carved out a golden opportunity. Afolayan did brilliantly on the left-hand edge of the area to work the space for a cross to the advancing Irvine, but he headed over totally unchallenged.

It remained a high-intensity affair and the crowd had to wait almost a quarter of an hour for the next chance of note but when it came it brought the opening goal, to the delight of the home fans. Broschinski had only just come on when he crossed from the right into the middle, where Hofmann was a tad faster than Eric Smith and beat Vasilj from close range with the outside of his foot. That left the Boys in Brown needing to step up a gear if they were to ward off the defeat. Blessin responded by introducing Noah Weißhaupt for Danel Sinani on 72. Moments later the new recruit raced away from Ibrahima Sissoko down the left and went to ground in the box. No penalty was awarded, though, the correct decision.

The Blessin XI increased the pressure and the home side sat back waiting for an opportunity to break. Smith met an underhit clearance first time but dragged his effort well off target. James Sands and Scott Banks replaced Carlo Boukhalfa and Oladapo Afolayan for the final ten minutes. Weißhaupt burst into the box in fine fashion on the left-hand side, only to fire agonisingly wide of the near post. At the other end, Vasilj kept his side in it, narrowing the angle intelligently to thwart Broschinski.

Blessin went for broke three minutes from the end of regulation time, adding Adam Dźwigała and Aboulie Ceesay to his attack. Seconds later, Smith headed just over at the far post from a corner before Vasilj denied Broschinski once against. It just wasn't to be. The ball would not go in, condemning the Boys in Brown, for whom Dźwigała was sent off after a VAR check for going over the top on Dani de Wit in time added on, to end the first half of the campaign with a 1-0 defeat.

VfL Bochum

Drewes - Masović, Ordets, Bernardo - Passlack, Wittek, Bero, Sissoko -  Miyoshi (65. Broschinski), Hofmann (Medić 90'+2), Holtmann (de Wit 80')

Head coach: Dieter Hecking

FC St. Pauli

Vasilj - Wahl, Smith, Nemeth (Ceesay 87') - Saliakas (Dźwigała 87'), Irvine, Boukhalfa (Sands 81'), Treu - Guilavogui, Sinani (Weißhaupt 71'), Afolayan (Banks 81')

Head coach: Alexander Blessin

Goal: 1-0 Hofmann (67')

Yellow cards: Holtmann – Smith, Irvine, Afolayan

Red card: Dźwigała (serious foul play 90'+4)

Referee: Daniel Siebert (Berlin)

Attendance: 27,000 (sold out)

Photos: FC St. Pauli/Witters