FC St. Pauli won 3-1 (1-1) against FC Schalke 04 on Saturday (September 23rd, 2023) – and is therefore the only team in the 2nd Bundesliga to remain undefeated. That was also due to captain Marcel Hartel, who is also a goalscorer.
From the perspective of everyone who supports FC St. Pauli, the hero of the evening was midfielder and captain Marcel Hartel. Hartel, 27, and not previously known as a goalscorer, first took the lead with a penalty kick (21st minute) and later scored again with a shot from 16 meters (57th). Joker Carlo Boukhalfa scored the third goal for Hamburg (90+2).
Sebastian Polter had equalized for Schalke 04 after some impressive preparatory work from Thomas Ouwejan (29′).
St. Pauli takes the game, but initially no goal
FC St. Pauli started just as stormily as before in the 5-1 win against Holstein Kiel. Schalke barely got out of their own half. Until the break, the ball possession ratio was 63:37 percent. Hamburg’s only drawback: the exploitation of opportunities. There are still things that his team can improve, says St. Pauli coach Fabian Hürzeler on ARD radio. “We still have potential for improvement.”
It was only when referee Frank Willenborg decided on a hand penalty after VAR intervened that the hosts were rewarded. The cause was Schalke player Lino Tempelmann, who threw himself into a shot from Connor Metcalfe. Hartel converted safely. “We were begging for a goal”says Schalke’s coach Thomas Reis to ARD radio.
Even after that, Schalke hardly took any offensive action. But with the first sensible attack, the guests made it 1-1 with Polter’s third goal of the season. The hosts needed some time to recover from the setback. But their superiority remained.
Schalke has chances, but fails to equalize
St. Pauli continued to dominate in the second half, but the guests from Gelsenkirchen now knew how to counter Hamburg’s efforts. And they definitely had chances to equalize. But there was always something: He shot Yusuf Kabadayi over the goal from close range (61′), then Polter was denied by Hamburg goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj (64′). Only Boukhalfa removed all doubts about FC St. Pauli’s victory.
In the table of the 2nd Bundesliga, FC St. Pauli climbed to second place, at least for one night, after their third win in their seventh league game. FC Schalke, on the other hand, has seven points and has to finish 15th in the table. first look down.
Schalke in Paderborn, St. Pauli against Hertha
Schalke will be guests in Paderborn next matchday (Friday, September 29th, 2023 at 6:30 p.m.). St. Pauli is also challenged away from home. For the Kiezkicker, the top game is against Hertha BSC (Saturday, September 30th, 2023 at 8:30 p.m.).