FC St. Pauli

Head coach Alexander Blessin made two changes from the 3-2 defeat at Bayern Munich, Hauke Wahl and Lars Ritzka coming in for Siebe Van der Heyden (muscle problem) and Adam Dźwigała (bench). Pleasingly, Morgan Guilavogui featured in the squad for the first time since early February. For the visitors, who beat Leipzig 1-0 at home last week, Tim Kleindienst returned from suspension to take the place of Tomáš Čvančara, who dropped to the bench. With none of the teams at the bottom end of the table picking up points on Saturday apart from Holstein Kiel, who drew 1-1 at Mainz, the Boys in Brown had an opportunity to move six points clear of the relegation play-off place and eight clear of the first relegation place.

Blessin’s charges made a forceful start in perfect conditions for football (packed house, superb pitch and bright sunshine), fashioning the opening chance of the game for Hauke Wahl from a throw-in three minutes in. His shot on the turn was gathered by Pereira Cardoso. Just 60 seconds later, the Gladbach keeper was in action again, producing a smart stop to prevent Danel Sinani from giving his side an early lead with a long-range effort that was bound for the bottom-left corner. The visitors came to Hamburg on the back of four away wins on the bounce, but they struggled to get out of their own half in the opening stages. On their first foray of note in the 12^th minute, Lars Ritzka slid in to stop Alassane Pléa in his tracks. Soon after that, Robin Hack broke down the left and into the box at pace, but David Nemeth nipped in to deny him a shooting opportunity.

The Boys in Brown showed plenty of endeavour in the ensuing period and had more of the game, but the visitors looked better organised now and offered less space to operate in than before. And it was they who created the next chance in the 25^th minute when Kleindienst climbed to meet a Franck Honorat cross and headed wide of the left-hand upright from eight metres. Hack then attempted a cheeky effort from 35 metres following a free-kick, but didn’t get enough on it and Nikola Vasilj scampered back to gather. Two minutes later, the deadlock was almost broken at the other end following a mishit effort from Noah Weißhaupt that cannoned off two Gladbach defenders and fell at the feet of Elias Saad in acres of space. His close-range effort was blocked by an alert Pereira Cardoso, however.

Lacking the necessary footballing solutions, Gladbach increasingly resorted to hitting long balls towards Kleindienst, but Alex Blessin’s side defended with aplomb and won most of the second balls. Just before the break, Weißhaupt went to ground on the edge of the area, prompting referee Christian Dingert to award a free-kick. He then went over to the review area for another look at it and changed his mind, resuming with a drop ball to the annoyance of the home crowd. Unfortunately, there was still enough time for the visitors to force a corner and take a surprise lead, Ko Itakura planting a perfectly placed header into the top corner from 12 metres in time added on.

Elias Saad (here in a duel with Joe Scally) came close to opening the scoring on the half-hour.

The two sides resumed unchanged and once again the Blessin XI hit the ground running. Saad knocked the ball wide right to Manolis Saliakas, who pulled the trigger from 22 metres, but Pereira Cardoso was able to defuse it at the second attempt. Moments later, the effervescent Sinani fired into the side netting from a tight angle before having another effort from just inside the box blocked. Two minutes after that, the visitors carved out an opportunity from a throw-in on the right. The unmarked Pléa stooped to get in a header, but it was too centrally placed and Vasilj snapped it up.

Blessin’s men continued to push forward in search of a long overdue equaliser. With 58 minutes gone, Saad cut inside from the left and went for goal from just inside the area, but Pereira Cardoso was equal to it. Two minutes later, the same player squandered another opportunity from close range. Both coaches then elected to make their first changes. Blessin bolstered his attack with the addition of Morgan Guilavogui for Lars Ritzka and switched from a back three to a back four. His team had the edge in almost all of the stats and continued to fight with passion in a bid to rescue at least a point.

Another double substitution followed as the game entered the closing stages, Connor Metcalfe and Oladapo Afolayan replacing Noah Weißhaupt and Elias Saad. In the 78^th minute Sinani had a go from a free-kick, but his attempt to curl the ball over a four-man wall wasn’t high enough. The Boys in Brown practically laid siege to the Gladbach goal but struggled to find a gap in the visitors’ rearguard. And when one did open up on 81, Metcalfe fired over when looking odds on to score.

The goal finally arrived a good three minutes later and the Millerntor erupted! Afolayan was given too much space outside the box and after taking a touch he hammered a shot into the top right corner from 20 metres. It was no less than the Boys in Brown deserved and in the last few minutes they threw everyone forward in attempt to find a winner, but to no avail.

FC St. Pauli

Vasilj - Nemeth, Wahl, Ritzka (Guilavogui 61’) - Saliakas, Smith, Irvine, Treu - Sinani (Eggestein 83’) - Saad (Metcalfe 74’), Weißhaupt (Afolayan 74’)

Head coach: Alexander Blessin

Borussia Mönchengladbach

Pereira Cardoso - Scally, Itakura, Elvedi, Ullrich (Netz 61’) - Reitz, Weigl - Honorat (Chiarodia 61’), Pléa (Stöger 75’), Hack (Friedrich 86’) - Kleindienst (Ngoumou 86’)

Head coach: Gerardo Seoane

Goals: 0-1 Itakura (45’+1), 1-1 Afolayan (85’)

Yellow cards: Ullrich, Netz

Referee: Christian Dingert (Lebecksmühle)

Attendance: 29,546 (sold out)

Photos: FC St. Pauli/Witters