With the first shot on goal, FC. St. Pauli took a point from Cologne out of nowhere on Saturday afternoon. The Hamburg team turned the game on its head and ended their series of nine defeats in the Bundesliga.
After an uneventful first half, it was – as so often this season – the 19-year-old El Mala who supposedly decided the game with an individual action. El Mala crowned a sprint with the ball across half the pitch in the 51st minute of the game with his sixth goal of the season. For a long time it looked like Cologne would win because St. Pauli couldn’t manage anything on offense – but then the guests struck late on: Ricky Jade-Jones equalized in the last second in his first Bundesliga appearance.
Cologne had the game completely under control and had to be angry about losing two points. With the one point, FC climbs to eighth place (16 points), at least temporarily. The long-disappointing guests remain in 17th place with eight points.
Cologne Triple chance – otherwise the defensive lines will shine
It is well known that Cologne coach Lukas Kwasniok likes to change his first team – and so Kwasniok replaced four men compared to the 1-1 draw in Bremen against St. Pauli. Among other things, Luca Waldschmidt was allowed to start again for the first time since mid-October. And it was Waldschmidt who probably had the best chance of scoring the first goal of the game in the extremely poor first half.
After a low cross from Jakub Kaminski, El Mala was the first to finish, but St. Pauli goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj was there with a strong reflex (21′). In the follow-up shot, Waldschmidt failed to hit a defensive leg and the post from close range. Vasilj again parried Sebastian Sebulonsen’s third Cologne attempt within a few seconds.
Huge opportunity for FC: Luca Waldschmidt (l.) struggles
The triple chance for the home team was the absolute highlight of the first 45 minutes, in which Cologne clearly had more of the game, but hardly had any shots on goal due to Hamburg’s concentrated defensive work. The deep-lying guests defended sturdily, but for their part came far too rarely into the offensive third in transition play. The spectators saw a total of five shots towards the goal by the break.
Cologne’s El Mala sprints away from everyone and scores
Things could only get better in terms of entertainment value in the second half – and just five minutes after the restart there was reason for the Cologne fans to celebrate. Waldschmidt cleared a free kick from the guests high and far forward. El Mala sprinted for the ball just in front of the halfway line, didn’t let any opponent catch up with him and coolly shot in front of Vasilj to make it 1-0.
Sixth goal of the season: Cologne’s Said El Mala
St. Pauli was now responsible, but the statics of the game hardly changed even after Cologne’s opening goal. The home team remained dominant in the game, while St. Pauli simply didn’t take offense. Tom Kraus (76th) and the still agile Waldschmidt (78th) could have extended Cologne’s lead, but Vasilj, as Hamburg’s best player, kept his team in the game.
St. Pauli remains harmless – until the last attack
Guest coach Alexander Blessin made several changes and tried to give his harmless team the necessary impetus for more offensive power. Among other things, Jade-Jones, who came from Petersborough before the season, made his Bundesliga debut. Alone: It didn’t help for a long time. St. Pauli remained completely harmless until injury time.
On the other side, Ragnar Ache and Florian Kainz could have put the lid on. But Vasilj reacted brilliantly twice from close range – and kept his team in the game. And the equalizer actually came through. With the first shot at the Cologne goal, St. Pauli scored the celebrated equalizer. Jade-Jones, of all people, extended a cross from Danel Sinani into the far corner. The game was turned on its head with the late equalizer.
Cologne in Leverkusen, St. Pauli against Heidenheim
Cologne will be guests at Bayer Leverkusen in the neighborhood duel on Saturday evening (6.30 p.m.). St. Pauli welcomes 1. FC Heidenheim for a basement duel on Saturday afternoon (3:30 p.m.).