Neighborhood club on the rise, serious setback for the “Iron”: FC St. Pauli is building up a valuable cushion over the relegation zone with ever-increasing consistency.
Hamburg (SID) Alexander Blessin grabbed his match winner and was reluctant to let him go again. The coach of FC St. Pauli pressed Morgan Guilavogui for a few seconds – especially thanks to their double goalscorer, Hamburg further increased their valuable cushion in the 3-0 (1-0) win against Union Berlin. St. Pauli is now a reassuring eight points ahead of the first direct relegation zone in the Bundesliga.
Guilavogui was the decisive man in front of 29,546 spectators. The striker first took the lead with a powerful right-footed shot (31′). After the half-time break he followed up on an assist from Johannes Eggestein (51′) – Union keeper Alexander Schwolow didn’t look happy. Joker Danel Sinani (90+3) also scored and the sold-out Millerntorstadion became a madhouse.
Coach Steffen Baumgart’s Berliners still have to look down with concern and equaled their negative record in the Bundesliga with their sixth away defeat in a row. “We are extremely frustrated and brutally disappointed,” said defensive player Aljosha Kemlein on “DAZN,” “that is really difficult to accept.” For the Hamburg returnee Baumgart it was the third defeat in the fourth game on the Berlin bench – staying in the league will probably be a tough job.
There was little to suggest a spectacle at the end of the 19th matchday before kick-off. St. Pauli and Union have hardly turned out to be goal factories so far this season and are among the weakest teams in the league offensively. St. Pauli started with the firm intention of achieving their second success in a row for the first time this season.
Baumgart, who started the season as coach at HSV and was greeted “warmly”, saw his team get off to a lively start, driven by the busy Benedict Hollerbach – who wanted to improve on their 2-1 win against Mainz.
But the first offensive efforts fizzled out and the home team gained greater and greater advantages. After the initial excitement surrounding Guilavogui’s hit on the crossbar (27′), St. Pauli’s captain Jackson Irvine tested Schwolow with a right-footed shot. Then Union midfielder Aljoscha Kemlein, who was on loan to the Brown-Whites in the previous season, lost the ball while moving forward and St. Pauli skillfully took the lead.
After the break and a double substitution by Baumgart, Union also had chances, but initially remained too harmless. Jordan Siebatcheu had himself blocked in a promising position (49′), Hollerbach aimed too high (58′). St. Pauli remained the more consistent team, managed to hit the post through Noah Weißhaupt (67th) – and secured an easy victory.