FC St. Pauli

In view of the busy schedule with three competitive games in seven days, there had been speculation about whether Timo Schultz would rejig his side compared with the league game against Hansa Rostock, but in the end he left it at one change, Dennis Smarsch standing in for Nikola Vasilj as had previously been announced. More alterations were made by the home side, who made three adjustments after the 3-0 reverse at Schalke. Luca Herrmann, Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer and Pascal Sohm came in for Christoph Daferner, Yannick Stark and Michael Sollbauer.

The Schultz XI took the lead in the opening minute of the league meeting at the Millerntor in early October and made a reasonable start again, Jakov Medić heading over from a Paqarada corner in the second minute. Early on, his charges threatened mainly when they pressed the ball high up the pitch, but both Guido Burgstaller and Kofi Kyereh were stopped by the referee's whistle when in promising positions, for an attacking foul and offside respectively. Dresden also looked to get forward whenever possible but lacked precision in the key moments around the penalty area. And with both teams reluctant to take any risks, the game stalled a little midway through the first half.

Michael Akoto tried a low shot from distance for the home side with half an hour gone, but it curled past the right-hand post. The Boys in Brown were edging the possession at this point but created nothing of any note in the Dresden box for long periods until Burgstaller finally tested Dynamo keeper Kevin Broll with a shot after a fine passing move on the left three minutes before the break.

The start of ten crazy minutes: Leart Paqarada celebrates his opening goal with Jackson Irvine on 63.

Schultz introduced Rico Benatelli for Afeez Aremu in central midfield at the start of the second half. His team were again the first to threaten from a corner that this time was flicked on by a Dresden head to Dittgen, but the striker was too surprised to make anything of the unexpected opportunity. With 56 minutes gone, the 1,000 or so travelling St. Pauli fans thought their side had taken the lead when Guido Burgstaller netted following a free kick, only for referee Sven Waschitzki to disallow the goal for an alleged handball by the Austrian.

Dresden coach Alexander Schmidt responded with three substitutions in the 62^nd minute, including his leading scorer in the league, Christoph Daferner, but it was the Boys in Brown who struck 60 seconds later when the home defence failed to deal with the threat of Jackson Irvine and Kyereh, allowing Paqarada to glide in and score. The joy proved short-lived, however, as the hosts hit back almost immediately. Chris Löwe found Daferner in the penalty area and he volleyed home the equaliser. The action ebbed back and forth, and the Schultz XI soon restored their advantage on 71 when Paqarada delivered a free-kick from the left into the danger area, where Dittgen directed a glancing header into the far corner. Incredibly, Dresden were level again within a couple of minutes when Ziereis diverted a cross from the marauding Morris Schröter into his own net.

It had been a hectic ten minutes and perhaps understandably the two teams took a quick breather before Adam Dźwigała had a pop on 85, just moments after coming for Zander. Dresden could also have taken the lead in the closing stages, however, when Julius Kade narrowly missed the target from distance. Dźwigała went even closer to settling it in time added on, forcing Broll into a brilliant save with an angled drive. And so into extra-time we went.

In the 96th minute, Etienne Amenyido made his cup bow and was directly involved in the move that led to the Boys in Brown taking the lead a third time. His first-time effort at the back post missed the target by some distance but ended up with Burgstaller, who knocked the ball back into the middle for Buchtmann, also on as a substitute, to slam it home from close range.

Fortunately, the advantage lasted longer than on the two previous occasions and the teams changed ends for the final time with St. Pauli leading by the odd goal in five. The home side looked to step up a gear but instead it was the Schultz XI who set the tone and Amenyido could have put the result beyond all reasonable doubt in the second period of extra-time after Marcel Hartel had done the spadework, only to see his effort strike the post.

As it was, Dresden pushed for another equaliser in the closing minutes and fashioned two half-chances for Jong-Min Seo and Mörschel, but were unable to trouble Dennis Smarsch, allowing the Boys in Brown to book their place in the next round.

Dynamo Dresden

Broll - Akoto (Diawusie 109'), Aidonis, Becker (Sollbauer 77'), Löwe - Herrmann (Kade 62'), Will - Schröter, Mörschel, Königsdörffer (Seo 62') - Sohm (Daferner 62')

Head coach: Alexander Schmidt

FC St. Pauli

Smarsch - Zander (Dźwigała 84'), Ziereis, Medić, Paqarada - Aremu (Benatelli 46'), Irvine, Hartel (Lawrence 114'), Kyereh (Buchtmann 67') - Dittgen (Amenyido 96'), Burgstaller

Head coach: Timo Schultz

Goals: 0-1 Paqarada (63'), 1-1 Daferner (66'), 1-2 Dittgen (71'), 2-2 Ziereis (o.g. 74'), 2-3 Buchtmann (101')

Yellow cards: Herrmann, Mörschel, Akoto, Seo, Daferner / Kyereh, Zander, Dźwigała, Buchtmann

Referee: Sven Waschitzki (Essen)

Fans: 16,000

Photos: Witters