FC St. Pauli

Going in search of the next three important points, the Schultz XI lined up against Fortuna unchanged from the 1-1 draw with table-toppers SV Darmstadt last Saturday (28 October). The only minor difference was that Jackson Irvine wore the captain’s armband.

The match began promisingly. Both sides looked lively, and there were goal chances for FCSP, but also for Fortuna Düsseldorf. After 10 minutes, Marcel Hartel, for example, only just failed to connect with a cross from the right from Eric Smith. Only a minute later, Leart Paqarada’s cross found the head of Irvine. But his effort was too near to the centre of the goal and Kastenmeier was able to push it aside for a corner. A few moments later, Fortuna had a chance. Emmanuel Iyoha got on the end of a corner and forced a good save out of Nikola Vasilj (14th minute).

But a short time later, most of the fans in Düsseldorf were then cheering. A long goal-kick from Kastenmeier was headed on by Dawid Kownacki to Rouwen Hennings as he raced through. Somewhat surprisingly, he didn’t hesitate, and quickly fired off a shot. The ball went in low just inside the left-hand post to give Fortuna the lead (22). Timo Schulz’s men needed a few minutes to recover from going behind, and the game became less precise and somewhat slower.

As the first half drew to a close, however, things livened up again. First Hennings had a chance to make it 2-0, but when clear through with only Vasilj to beat he shot weakly (40). Then Etienne Amenyido from long range and Marcel Hartel following up had further chances to get the first goal for the Schultz XI. But as keeper Kastenmeier was alert on both occasions, the teams went in at half-time with Fortuna Düsseldorf leading 1-0.

Both teams came out unchanged after the break. Within five minutes, Fortuna Düsseldorf already had a chance to make it 2-0. After they broke through down the left, Iyoha crossed low into the box. Passing everyone, the ball ended up at the feet of the in-running Peterson. He immediately shot. The deflected ball caught Vasilj going the wrong way, but our keeper stuck up his left leg and rescued the situation at the last moment (50).

For ten minutes it then remained calm. But a foul by Betim Fazliji in the centre of the pitch led to a mass confrontation in the FCSP half. When things calmed down, referee Frank Willenborg sent off Betim Fazliji for violent conduct (59). In the minutes that followed there was no notable action. While Fortuna had more possession, they were not able to take advantage of having an extra man.

In the final minutes of the match, the Boys in Brown gave it their all, were by then having more of the game, and in the 87th minute had the chance to equalise. From a cross from Paqarada, the ball ended up with substitute David Otto. However, his shot from a bit more than ten metres out went just over the bar. With the home team defending cleverly, there were no further chances, and so the match at Fortuna ended in defeat.

Fortuna Düsseldorf

Kastenmeier – Zimmermann, Oberdorf, Klarer, Karbownik – Appelkamp (78 Bodzek) – Iyoha (90+1 Hoffmann), Hendrix, Peterson (67 Klaus) – Kownacki (67 Bah), Hennings

Head coach: Daniel Thioune

FC St. Pauli

Vasilj – Saliakas (70 Zander), Dzwigala, Smith, Fazliji, Paqarada – Aremu (70 Metcalfe) – Irvine, Hartel (82 Matanovic) – Amenyido (82 Eggestein), Daschner (70 Otto)

Head coach: Timo Schultz

Goals: 1-0 Hennings (22)

Yellow cards: Hennings, Klarer / Metcalfe

Red card: Fazliji

Referee: Frank Willenborg

Fans: 35,000

Photographs: Witter