Kiezkicker stay 16.
©IMAGO
FC St. Pauli’s free fall continues. Hamburg also lost 0-1 (0-1) against 1. FC Union Berlin and suffered their eighth defeat in a row in the Bundesliga. This is a club record in the Bundesliga. Rani Khedira’s decisive goal in the 44th minute punished a weak and unimaginative performance by the crisis club. After this next sporting disappointment, St. Pauli is now only one point away from a direct relegation zone.
In front of 29,546 fans at the Millerntor, the fan protests against the planned measures to tighten stadium security were even more severe than in other Bundesliga arenas. Supporters of St. Pauli and Union were not only silent in the first twelve minutes of the game, but also repeatedly shouted “Shit IMK” in an alternating chant. This was directed against the interior ministers’ conference in Bremen at the beginning of December, which was supposed to focus on much-discussed topics such as centrally ordered stadium bans or personalized tickets.
The FC St. Pauli club management supported the protests before the game (“The rule of law also applies to football fans”). Meanwhile, the coaching team relied on classic crisis management measures. Safety and compactness first was the motto, even against an opponent at eye level. As much as many fans were happy about the long-injured captain Jackson Irvine’s return to the starting lineup, bringing in the Australian also meant sacrificing the only attacking midfielder in Hamburg’s tactical system in favor of a third defensive man in the center.
Accordingly, it took until the 30th minute before St. Pauli had a chance to score: Mathias Pereira Lage headed past the goal after preparatory work from his strike partner Andreas Hountondji. Union controlled this uneventful game and seemed at least a little more determined from the start. In the 39th minute, Berlin center forward Andrej Ilic was initially denied by Nikola Vasilj. Five minutes later, St. Pauli’s goalkeeper was powerless to stop a hidden shot from Khedira.
It was indicative of Hamburg’s difficult situation that they started something of an urgency phase in the second half and invested significantly more in their offensive game. However, the yield was poor. Many balls to the top didn’t reach the goal. Goals like a long-range shot from Joel Chima Fujita (60′) or a header from Hauke Wahl (63′) were too harmless.
This team has lost the self-confidence of the first weeks of the season. The fact that the Berlin defense was very secure with the strong Austrian Leopold Querfeld in the center made things even more difficult.
The guests’ stable connection only wobbled once: because captain Christopher Trimmel and goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow did not agree after a cross into the penalty area, the ball remained in play. FC St. Pauli’s next attack attempt put substitute Danel Sinani in a good shooting position, but the Luxembourger only hit the post (75th).