45+1
21:18
Mid-term conclusion:
St. Pauli leads 1-0 at the break at Darmstadt 98 and could, if it stays that way, postpone the promotion celebrations of the south Hesse. While the FCSP was out to win the ball from the start in order to have room for changeover situations, the Lilien also acted with little risk for long stretches of the first round and waited for the opponent to make mistakes. Without a doubt, the SVD made more appearances in the opposing third, but rarely posed a threat with their shots, which mostly came from the second row. The Kiezkicker, on the other hand, who were a bit too passive overall, scored shortly before half-time when everything was heading for a 0-0 lead after a Paqarada free-kick, which Dźwigała converted.
45+1
21:16
End of 1st half
45
21:16
Official stoppage time (minutes): 1
45
21:14
Tooor for FC St. Pauli, 0:1 by Adam Dźwigała
With the free kick, St. Pauli took a 1-0 lead shortly before the break. Leart Paqarada puts the ball dangerously against the first post with his left and finds Dźwigała’s head straight away, who nods off at full speed. Tietz still deflects decisively, so that shoes in the near corner no longer have a chance to prevent the impact.
44
21:14
After Schnellhardt fouled Saad, there was also a promising free kick on the other side. Hartel and Paqarada are ready about three meters from the left corner of the penalty area.
41
21:11
The South Hesse team gets a free kick from a central position 28 meters away, which Tobias Kempe manages. The 33-year-old veteran executes directly, but the trajectory is too easy to estimate. Nikola Vasilj can take a few steps and then safely catch the ball.
38
21:08
The lilies win the ball again, but then act too hastily. Marvin Mehlem could send a teammate into the box on the left or right, but instead shoots directly from 18 meters. The pressureless right-footed shot clearly misses to the left. Kick off St. Pauli.
36
21:06
Bader bites on granite on the right wing at first, but then suddenly has space because no player from St. Pauli feels responsible. The flat cross from the baseline then finds no buyer.
33
21:03
The concept of both teams still insists on waiting for opposing mistakes and then creating switching moments. Of their own accord, both the Lilien and the Kiezkicker act clearly with the handbrake on in the game going forward.
30
21:01
Another mistake by Hamburg in the build-up game. Tietz is through again after a pass from Mehlem and the Darmstadt attacker falls again because an opponent puts his body in the penalty area. This time it’s the Mets who stop Tietz’s advance and bring down his opponent. However, the whistle of the impartial is missing in this scene because Tietz is quite proactive in seeking contact.
27
20:57
Just as St. Pauli is getting braver, SV Darmstadt 98 comes up with good attacks. The consequence of the Kiezkicker is to return to the passivity of the first quarter of an hour. This is not exactly conducive to the pace of this top game, which is still not excessively high.
24
20:54
Phillip Tietz wants to dig through two opponents after a ball, but Medić and Paqarada join forces to separate him from the ball. Paqarada puts his body in hard, whereupon the lilies demand a penalty. Overall, however, the action seems clean.
22
20:52
Tietz again: From an alleged offside position, the goal-getter flicks past the right corner from seven meters and an acute angle. Here, too, it would have needed a VAR check if the ball had been in.
21
20:51
Leart Paqarada lets Braydon Manu take the ball and Lilien counterattacks. The player from Darmstadt serves Phillip Tietz, whose right-footed shot from 14 meters jumps well past the left post.
19
20:49
The guests from the north are becoming increasingly courageous and, after a rather passive start, take matters into their own hands. However, Darmstadt also defends extremely poisonously, so that the way into the opposing third is blocked again and again. The action is taking place mainly between the penalty areas.
16
20:46
Hartel has some space on the left, but Lilien’s defensive occupation of the penalty area has been flawless so far. Christoph Zimmermann resolutely clears the flat cross.
14
20:44
The really high speed isn’t coming up yet. The Kiezkicker are more out for winning the ball and lie in wait for mistakes made by the Hessians, who, for their part, play very low-risk to avoid mistakes and thus hardly get behind the opposing chain.
11.
20:41
There is the first significant chance for the FCSP: Saad fits into Hartel’s run at the perfect moment, who seeks and finds Afolayan with his cross from the left wing. The attacker stumbled the ball under pressure but unluckily missed the Darmstadt goal on the left. Kick off SVD.
9.
20:39
After Paqarada lost the ball, Schnellhardt simply pulls away from the second row. The ball lands nasty in front of Vasilj, who can then skillfully steer the deflected left-footed shot around the right post. The following corner then brings nothing further.
7.
20:37
Christoph Zimmermann dives under a high ball, but then follows up in a duel with Elias Saad and recaptures the lead with a strong tackle.
4.
20:34
The first minutes go to the Hessians, who have really planned a lot for this home game in front of a great backdrop. St. Pauli braces itself against this and keeps up in terms of football instead of being constricted in its own half by the power of Darmstadt.
1.
20:31
Immediately after the whistle, Mehlem got through in a suspected offside position after a pass, but shot the shot wide of the post to the left. That’s the first exclamation point from Darmstadt, although a hit should definitely have stood up to scrutiny.
1.
20:30
The ball is rolling in southern Hesse. The lilies compete in blue and black. The guests from Hamburg are dressed all in white.
20:04
Another statistic, on the other hand, gives the guests from Hamburg plenty of courage: FC St. Pauli is a giant killer par excellence in the 2nd Bundesliga. Of the last ten league games in the lower house of German football in which the FCSP faced the current leaders, the Kiezkicker have lost just one game (five wins, four draws) – a narrow 2:3 at Schalke 04 a year.
19:58
By the way, the balance between the two best teams of the current second division second half of the season reads very one-sided. FC St. Pauli made eleven guest appearances in Darmstadt and the southern Hessians managed to avoid defeat at home eleven times (eight wins, three draws). At no other club did the Kiezkicker play away more often in professional football without ever scoring a win.
19:52
FC St. Pauli made a sensational start to 2023 with ten second division wins in a row, but then suffered two defeats in a row against Braunschweig (1: 2) and city rivals Hamburg (3: 4). Last Saturday there was another 2-1 win in the home game against Bielefeld. As a result, Fabian Hürzeler sees no reason for a change and sends exactly the same starting eleven back onto the pitch from the start.
19:46
Darmstadt has now been unbeaten in 17 home games in the 2nd Bundesliga (12 wins, five draws) and also has the best defense in the league with only 24 goals conceded. The Lilies have also won five of their last six league games (losing one). Torsten Lieberknecht therefore sees little reason for changes, who has only made one change compared to the recent 3-0 win in Kiel: Tobias Kempe is preferred to Mathias Honsak (bench).
19:40
FC St. Pauli is the only second division club in the south of Hesse to have scored more points (33) than Darmstadt 98 (28) in the current second half of the season. However, the Kiezkicker are also a declared favorite opponent of the lilies. The Hessians have not celebrated more victories in the 2nd Bundesliga against any other team than against FCSP (eleven).
19:35
After Hamburger SV only drew yesterday, Darmstadt can complete promotion to the Bundesliga with a home win tonight. With a win, the lilies would increase their lead in third place to ten points with three games left, which would no longer be possible to catch up.
19:30
Good evening and a warm welcome from the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor. Here, SV Darmstadt 98 welcomes FC St. Pauli at 8:30 p.m. today as part of the 31st matchday of the 2nd Bundesliga.