FC St. Pauli

Head coach Alexander Blessin was forced into one change after the narrow 2-1 defeat at champions Bayer Leverkusen last time out, Danel Sinani beginning for the suspended Morgan Guilavogui. Werder Bremen boss Ole Werner also made one adjustment to the side that won 1-0 at VfL Bochum. With Justin Njinmah out injured, Marco Grüll slotted into the starting lineup.

Both teams tried in vain to find a way through the opposition defence early on. As a result, the first 15 minutes were largely devoid of action in either penalty area. It was by no means boring, however. The intensity in the tackle was high, and there was the occasional bit of niggle between the two teams. After a throw-in on the left in the 17^th minute, David Nemeth dispatched a cross to the back post for Jackson Irvine, whose header flew well wide. Two minutes later the Boys in Brown pushed again. The ball was spread from right to left, where Johannes Eggestein pulled the trigger from the edge of the box, but Werder keeper Michael Zetterer was down quickly to make the save.

The Blessin XI had more of the play now and continued to press. Oladapo Afolayan feinted his way past two opponents and hammered a shot towards goal from the left channel but sliced it well off target. Moments later the visitors took the lead. Jens Stage cut inside from the right and laid the ball off for the advancing Derrick Köhn, who left Nikola Vasilj no chance with a pinpoint low strike into the bottom right corner. Stunned by the goal, the Boys in Brown struggled to get going again and Bremen seized the initiative, without creating any chances of note, however.

Instead, the chances arrived at the other end, with the Blessin XI playing out from the back into the danger area. Eggestein met a Manolis Saliakas cross first time and the ball was heading for the bottom left corner until it was blocked by Marco Friedl. From the resulting corner Saliakas unleashed a volley from range, only for the visitors to get another block in. Werder finally threatened just before the break when Marco Grüll turned on a sixpence to lose two defenders and unloaded from just outside the area, but Vasilj saved with his right hand. There was still time for Afolayan to screw an effort off target from distance before the referee blew his whistle for half-time.

Both coaches fielded the same 11 players for the second period, which had hardly begun when referee Robert Hartmann stopped the play for about ten minutes due to a haze of smoke from the use of pyrotechnics by both sets of fans. This, after the kick-off had been delayed or the same reason. When the action resumed after what felt like an eternity, the Boys in Brown fashioned the first chance for Danel Sinani, who collected a long ball forward before smashing a shot over the bar from around 25 metres. Next, Hauke Wahl teed up Eggestein, and his shot from 14 metres was saved by Zetterer. The Werder custodian knocked the ball straight to Mitchell Weise, whose cross found the unmarked Marvin Ducksch in the middle, and the former St. Pauli man found the bottom left corner from 14 metres to double the visitors' lead.

The response from the Blessin XI was almost immediate when Sinani swung in a corner and the ball skimmed the head of Stark and smacked against the crossbar. So close, and yet so far. The game ebbed and flowed in the ensuing period and with 58 minutes gone Stage was allowed the space to shoot. Fortunately, the ball flew way off target. Back at the other end, the Boys in Brown knocked the ball around nicely and Carlo Boukhalfa was able to get a shot off inside the box – yet again, a Bremen player made the block. Boukhalfa had another go from a good 30 metres out when Eggestein won possession, but his powerfully struck drive was defused by Zetterer.

With the game entering the closing stages, and the chances of rescuing a point beginning to dwindle, the Boys in Brown stepped up the pressure in their search for a goal. Soon after Lars Ritzka had entered the fray for Manolis Saliakas, Eric Smith rifled a free-kick into the Bremen wall. Werder continued to defend well, even after Andreas Albers had come on for Johannes Eggestein ten minutes from time. Vasilj produced a fine save to deny Oliver Burke in time added on, and the Blessin XI were left nothing to show for their efforts against a Werder side whose clinical efficiency in front of goal earned them victory.

FC St. Pauli

Vasilj - Wahl, Smith, Nemeth - Saliakas (Ritzka 74'), Irvine, Boukhalfa (Maurides 89'), Treu - Sinani (Ahlstrand 89'), Eggestein (Albers 80'), Afolayan

Head coach: Alexander Blessin

Werder Bremen

Zetterer - Stark (Pieper 82'), Friedl, Jung - Weiser, Stage, Lynen, Schmid (Alvero 90'+3), Köhn (Deman 82') - Grüll (Burke 68'), Ducksch

Head coach: Ole Werner

Goals: 0-1 Köhn (24'), 0-2 Ducksch (54')

Yellow cards: Sinani, Smith –  Friedl, Stage, Stark

Referee: Robert Hartmann (Wangen)

Zuschauer*innen: 29.546 (ausverkauft)

Photos: FC St. Pauli/Witters