FC St. Pauli

Head coach Alexander Blessin went into the only friendly of the short mid-season break not only without the injured Karol Mets, Connor Metcalfe and Elias Saad but also Philipp Treu, due to illness, and Jackson Irvine and Hauke Wahl, both of whom are on managed workloads. The game also came around too early for new recruit Abdoulie Ceesay after just one training session with his new teammates. James Sands, in contrast, made his debut in the starting eleven, with the third new addition this winter, Noah Weißhaupt, beginning on the bench.

There was a light covering of snow on the pitch when the game kicked off inside an empty Eintracht Stadium. The Boys in Brown had more of the play in the opening stages and fashioned the first chance of the game in the sixth minute. Oladapo Afolayan knocked a low ball in for Morgan Guilavogui, whose effort from just inside the box was gathered by Braunschweig keeper Lennart Grill. Soon after, Manolis Saliakas fired well off target from distance. Eintracht's opening chance came from a 15^th minute corner when former St- Pauli Under-23 player Max Marie had a header saved by Nikola Vasilj, who was wearing the captain's armband for the first time.

In a high-intensity contest that was lacking in quality at times, the Boys in Brown combined their way into the opposition box seven minutes later and Under-23 forward Romeo Aigbekaen unleashed a shot on goal from a tight angle, but Grill was not to be beaten at his near post. The home side responded soon after on the counter, Fabio Kaufmann pulling the trigger from the left corner of the box. The shot took a deflection, but Vasilj held onto it.

The game ebbed and flowed thereafter. Andreas Albers almost gave his side the lead on the half hour, Sanoussy Ba salvaging the situation for his colours with Grill already beaten. With play continuing, Braunschweig launched a counterattack and Ba, who had advanced up the pitch very quickly, dispatched a cross from the right into the middle, where Saliakas put through his own goal under challenge from Johan Gómez. The response was almost immediate. Afolayan was denied by Grill, but he couldn't hang onto the ball, and Aigbekaen smashed a shot into the roof of the net from eight metres to level the scores. Marwin Schmitz and Saliakas then tried their luck from distance, but Grill was on hand to make the save both times. The Braunschweig custodian also produced a brilliant stop to keep out a Nemeth header from a Saliakas corner in the 41^st minute to ensure the first period ended all square.

Erik Ahlstrand challenges Fabio Kaufmann.

Blessin rang the changes at half-time, with only Emil Staugaard continuing, meaning Noah Weißhaupt became the second new signing to make his debut. He was in the action almost immediately, backheeling the ball to Lars Ritzka, whose cross was headed a whisker wide of the Eintracht goal by Johannes Eggestein. The hosts, now with Marko Johansson in goal instead of Lennart Grill and Robin Krauße on for Ermin Bičakčić, made more of a game of it in the second half and could have restored their advantage from a 50^th minute free-kick, but Ben Voll produced a fine reflex save to deny Krauße. Marie then hit a distance effort well off target on 54.

The Boys in Brown continued to press but were left to wait for the next goalscoring opportunity. Just seven weeks had elapsed since the two teams last met in a friendly, a game that ended 1-1 in mid-November. Were we going to see another draw? Both teams looked to get forward in the remaining 20 minutes. Scott Banks received the ball on the right and cut inside before releasing a shot on goal, only for it to take deflection that allowed Johannson to gather.

After a brief lull in the play, Eintracht created two good chances. First, Fabio di Michele Sanchez pushed forward effectively and when the ball came back to him his header was cleared off the line by Lars Ritzka. Three minutes later, however, Krauße rose to meet a Marie corner and found the net to win it for the home side.

Alexander Blessin: "I wanted to give all the lads 45 minutes. The first half was good to watch. We played with tempo, our gegenpressing was good and we created pressure. We had some chances as well. In the second half we didn't do enough in terms of our movement and the way we wanted to play. We were too defensive in our thinking and didn't defend forward. We lacked courage. We simply chased the ball and didn't get in behind them."

Eintracht Braunschweig

Grill (Johansson 46') – Nikolaou (Kunze 75'), Ivanov (Jaeckel 46'), Bičakčić (Ehlers 46'), Kaufmann, Philippe, Marie, di Michele Sánchez, Ba (Laatsch 75'), Köhler (Krauße 46'), Gómez

Head coach: Daniel Scherning

FC St. Pauli

1^st half: Vasilj - Saliakas, Nemeth, Staugaard, Ahlstrand - Guilavogui, Schmitz, Sands, Afolayan - Aigbekaen, Albers

2^nd half: Voll - Stevens, Dźwigała, Staugaard, Ritzka - Banks, Boukhalfa, Hermann, Sinani - Maurides, Eggestein

Head coach: Alexander Blessin

Goals: 1.0 Saliakas (o.g. 30'), 1-1 Aigbekaen (32'), 2-1 Krauße (86')

Referee: Felix Bickel (Wolfsburg)

Photos: Witters