FC St. Pauli

Head coach Fabian Hürzeler: "It wasn't the best of starts at all. We didn't defend the set pieces well and conceded the goal. The key thing is the way we responded. We continued to play courageous football, were dominant and had control of the ball, and we created chances. We got a deserved equaliser and deservedly went 3-1 up, but then failed to add to that. We had opportunities to score a fourth and fifth goal, especially before half-time. In the second half we wanted to continue defending resolutely and we did that well until the 75^th minute. We were still brave but we weren't able to put the game to bed, and so Rostock ended up pulling one back out of the blue from the spot. After that we lost control. We were passive and didn't go the last metre in our pressing. Our patterns off the ball disappeared and we were too hasty on it. We have to be honest and say Rostock could have made it 3-3 with a lucky punch. All things said, we can be very satisfied with the performance up to the 75^th minute. We'll go over everything after that point and learn our lessons. Compliments to my team for coming from behind to win here."

Marcel Hartel: "It's hard to come back when you go behind so early here, but after conceding we totally controlled and dominated the game. We turned it round and took a deserved 3-1 lead, though we could have led by more at the break. After the restart we had some good moments in transition that we didn't see through to the end. And when Rostock, with the crowd behind them, get a goal, things get heated and the noise levels go up. It was down to us today. We should have scored more. We were desperate to win the game and are over the moon. Now we have the next cracker in the shape of the derby, where we aim to give it all we've got again and take another three points."

Eric Smith: "We failed to put the game to bed and they took their chance, though we tried to hold our own as best we could. Today was one of those games that you simply have to win somehow. We're really very happy to have got three points here! We didn't start well at all, but we've shown this season that we have great comeback qualities, and today we got three quick goals after the setback and continued to create good chances as the game went on."

Alois Schwartz (Hansa Rostock head coach): "That's how you want to start a game. The first 15 minutes were good, we pushed forward and were proactive. Then Saliakas had a nice idea and struck it well. We then had eight minutes to forget, though we made things easy for them. We didn't go into the tackles properly and ended up conceding three, and it's tough then. You saw the quality St. Pauli have. We could have copped a fourth and were lucky we didn't. At half-time I said we need to be calm because anything could happen if we got a second goal. We weren't calm, but we did get the penalty and we had more opportunities towards the end. We never gave up. Júnior should have scored his third with the header from five metres when he was completely unmarked. He has to hit the target there, because then it goes in. After Saliakas missed the chance to make it 4-2, Schumacher could have made it 3-3. Looking at the game as a whole, we never gave up and played with passion, but in the end St. Pauli were a goal better than us."

Photos: Witters