FC St. Pauli

Head coach Timo Schultz made just one adjustment to his starting lineup after the 3-1 home win over Karlsruher SC, Adam Dźwigała beginning in place of Luca Zander at right-back. His team went into the game aiming to make it three wins out of three against the Saxony outfit after the 3-0 victory in the reverse fixture and a 3-2 success in the second round of the DFB Cup. The home side, in contrast, ran out determined to end a run of eight games without a victory.

In a bright start to the proceedings, the Boys in Brown fashioned the opening chance with just a couple of minutes on the clock. Daniel-Kofi Kyereh returned a wayward clearance from Dynamo custodian Kevin Broll into the path of Guido Burgstaller, whose angled effort from the left-hand channel was pushed away by the keeper. Two minutes later, it was the home team's turn to go close on the break when Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer unleased a shot from ten metres, but Nikola Vasilj got down smartly to palm his effort to safety. The game continued to ebb and flow. Marcel Hartel curled an effort just over the top from the edge of the box before Michael Akoto pulled the trigger from range at the other end. His firmly struck drive was blocked by Jakov Medić.

The Saxony effort piled on the pressure in the opening stages and edged the possession, with the Boys in Browns holding a slightly deeper line and waiting for a chance to break. Both teams continued to probe without carving out any chances of note, however. Then, on 18 minutes, a Leart Paqarada corner found the head of Medić at the back post, but the ball flew a couple of metres off target. Two minutes later, a dead ball at the other end produced the opening goal. An Oliver Batista Meier free-kick was squared back across goal by Tim Knipping for the unmarked Christoph Daferner to leave Vasilj no chance from six metres.

With 25 minutes gone, another Paqarada corner was headed over by Marcel Beifus and then Dresden's Morris Schröter saw a shot deflected narrowly wide. The resulting corner was headed past the post by Daferner. The Schultz XI continued to search in vain for a way through the packed Dynamo ranks, in part because of some sloppy passing. The next chance again fell to the home side when Schröter forced his way past Adam Dźwigała in the box and cut the ball back to Daferner. The striker had his second goal of the game firmly in his sights but was denied from close range by Vasilj, who kept his side in it with a superb reflex save.

Finally, three minutes from the break, the Boys in Brown were back on terms. Paqarada dispatched another corner into the mixer, and with Broll misjudging the flight of the ball Simon Makienok had little trouble directing a header into the unguarded goal. The celebrations had only just ended when the home side were presented with an opportunity to restore their advantage, but Vasilj pulled out all the stops once again to ensure the two sides went in level at the half.

Marcel Hartel in a challenge with Oliver Batista Meier.

Timo Schultz made one change for the second 45 minutes, introducing Eric Smith for Christopher Buchtmann. Smith slotted into the holding midfield position, with Jackson Irvine moving slightly further forward to the side of the diamond. Dresden, the busier and braver of the two sides in the first period, resumed unchanged. The Boys in Brown hit the ground running and quickly fashioned a couple of chances. Kyereh headed well wide from a Paqarada cross and then the latter's right-foot shot from just outside the box proved little problem for Broll.

Soon after, Kyereh must have thought he would score when he turned a Medić towards goal from close range following a Paqarada corner, but Broll somehow managed to knock the ball onto the post with his knee. Irvine then headed the rebound over the top. The woodwork came to the home side's rescue again two minutes later when Dźwigała smacked a shot against the crossbar from just inside the box. Broll then denied Irvine and from the resulting corner Burgstaller's header was deflected agonisingly wide of his own goal by Königsdörffer.

It was one-way traffic now and a low ball in from Paqarada was directed into the side netting by Burgstaller at the near post. The Boys in Brown could have been out of sight by this point were it now for some uncharacteristic profligacy in front of goal. And they were almost made to pay for it on 74 when Daferner unleashed a shot on goal from a Königsdörffer cross. Vasilj had had precious little to do in the second half but was down quickly to gather. As the game entered the final quarter of an hour, Kyereh tried his luck with an acrobatic overhead kick from outside the box, but it was never going to trouble Broll.

With eight minutes left, Schultz sent on fresh legs in the shape of Luca Zander and Igor Matanović for Adam Dźwigała und Guido Burgstaller. But it was the half-time substitute Smith who almost fired his side ahead, only to see his dipping long-range effort come down onto the crossbar. To add insult to injury, Matanović became the fourth player in a brown jersey to be denied by the woodwork two minutes from the end when his header from Paqarada's cross clipped the bar. That was that, and the Boys in Brown were forced to settle for a point despite a significant improvement after the interval.

Dynamo Dresden

Broll - Akoto (Becker 79'), Sollbauer, Knipping, Giorbelidze - Stark, Batista Meier (Mörschel 65'), Kade - Schröter, Daferner (Drchal 79'), Königsdörffer (Weihrauch 88')

Head coach: Guerino Capretti

FC St. Pauli

Vasilj - Dźwigała (Zander 82'), Beifus, Medić, Paqarada - Irvine, Buchtmann (Smith 46'), Hartel (Daschner 88'), Kyereh - Makienok, Burgstaller (Matanović 82')

Head coach: Timo Schultz

Goals: 1-0 Daferner (20'), 1-1 Makienok (42')

Yellow cards: none

Referee: Daniel Siebert (Berlin)

Attendance: 16,000 (sold out)

Photos: Witters