Thanks to their second win in a row, Bundesliga promoted team FC St. Pauli has gained a points cushion over the relegation zone. The celebrated man in the 3-0 home win against 1. FC Union Berlin was someone who initially didn’t score: Morgan Guilavogui.
It was so beautiful that even the coach couldn’t believe it. Guilavogui, the match winner with two goals and an assist in the 3-0 win against 1. FC Union Berlin, made all the brown-whites in the sold-out Millerntorstadion go wild with enthusiasm, especially with his first goal. Just not one – Alexander Blessin. While behind the coach on the back straight thousands of hands shot towards the sky between fountains of beer, the native Swabian stood stoically on the sidelines.
Guilavogui’s dream goal: hard, humorless, precise, perfect
It wasn’t as if the 51-year-old couldn’t close his mouth in astonishment – he couldn’t open it. The cheer seemed to be stuck somewhere in his throat. He probably just wanted to briefly replay this scene in his mind’s eye to make sure that a mistake hadn’t somehow crept into the collective exuberance that could ruin everything.
What happened in the 31st minute: Guilavogui was sent into the penalty area with a through pass by Jackson Irvine and shot so hard from a tight angle on the right side that the ball hit the top corner perfectly and hit the goal net directly behind the crossbar bulging. A dream goal! One that is familiar from ice hockey, when the opponent’s goalie makes the goal so small for the shooter that there is only minimal space – in the short upper corner.
Sports director Bornemann encourages Blessin to celebrate
When Guilavogui was already being celebrated by the masses, St. Pauli’s sports director Andreas Bornemann provided the coach with an initial spark. With bright eyes and a big laugh, he pinched Blessin’s side and assured him that everything was fine and that maybe he could be a little happy too. Which then triggered a relieved smile from the coach.
“Inside I was very happy.”
— St. Pauli coach Alexander Blessin
After the game, Blessin explained his defensive tactics when celebrating the first goal in an NDR interview. “At first I thought: It’s damn difficult to hit the goal from that angle – the short corner and then into the triangle. At first I thought the ball landed on the back of the crossbar and hit the net from there,” he said. “Nowadays you always have to pay attention to whether there was an offside position beforehand. It always hurts when you get excited too early. But inside I was really happy.”
St. Pauli climbs thanks to a brace of three
This also applies to the other goals from Guilavogui (51st) and joker Danel Sinani (90th + 3) – and of course after the final whistle. The confident home win significantly improves the promoted team’s position in the fight to stay in the league. More precisely: a three-man double pack led to this. Hamburg also won the previous game at 1. FC Heidenheim – 2-0. Six points and 5-0 goals from two games are an outstanding reaction to the shocking performance at bottom-placed VfL Bochum (0-1).
After the 19th matchday, the promoted team now has 20 points and has moved past Union Berlin to 13th place in the table. The lead over the first direct relegation spot, which co-promoter Holstein Kiel occupies, is already eight points. And there are at least six points to the relegation position held by Heidenheim.
Augsburg will be guests next matchday
Things are currently looking good for FC St. Pauli in their mission to stay in the league. This would be especially the case if the brown-whites followed their second home win of the season with their third next weekend. On Saturday (3:30 p.m., in the live center at NDR.de) FC Augsburg will be the guest and has 25 points.
Match winner Guilavogui, now the team’s top goalscorer with five goals, received special praise from his initially astonished coach after the encounter: “Morgan works a tremendous amount for the team and is in a tactical alliance with Jojo (Johannes Eggestein, d.Red.) and Noah (Weißhaupt) are very important. The three of them did extremely well.”
The praised returned the compliments: “The whole team played a very great game,” said the 29-year-old unselfishly. But he also said: “It was a very nice evening for me.”
“I knew what quality Morgan had.”
—Alexander Blessin on Morgan Guilavogui
Blessin assured that he had never measured the Guinean striker, who came from RC Lens in the summer and only met for the first time in the ninth competitive game in the 2-4 defeat in the DFB Cup at RB Leipzig, only by goals. “I knew what quality he had and how important he was. Now he’s rewarded himself with goals, important goals. One better than the other. But it has to continue like this.” The duel with Augsburg would be the next opportunity.
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Sports club | 01/26/2025 | 10:50 p.m
