Matchday 27: FC Sankt Pauli vs MSV Duisburg 0-0

“Nothing” CAN be alright sometimes

Source: http://www.fcstpauli.com, ©️ Witters

Pale 0-0 in Millerntor against a team that still sits under relegation zone. Sounds really bad but only considering the teams’ positions in the table (we’ll probably remain 4th after the end of matchday, MSV 17th, beyond the relegation zone) and…any promotion aspirations that source out of these (get serious, if happens we’ll first have Union  to thank). When the toxicity that created atmospheric alerts in the area around Millerntor gets into the equation, the actual outcome can be different…

 

“This one was really a riddle (OK, every FCSP game is one, let’s move).” This remains intact, copied from the opening of last matchday. Not only the situation hadn’t been defused since then but further tension had been added following Thursday’s Club statement. In this sense, this was a game awaited with impatience not only regardng the squad but regarding the situation on the terraces as well…

Squads in, under a good but somehow frozen (no “Aux Armes” was attempted after kickoff, read somewhere that some “Gegengerade” calls were not answered) atmosphere and off to the game and an explosive start for FCSP. Full pressure from kickoff with the first BIG chance on 4′! Möller Daehli (this guy is incredible sometimes) partied with and exposed the entire MSV right defensive flank, in the box from the left before giving the assist to Meier who…missed all alone from 7m! (Ack! He couldn’t even believe it himself). 6′ in the game and another one! Buchtmann corner from the left, initial clearance from MSV, ball eventually back to Buchtmann, parallel cross towards the heart of the box where Hoogma found the ball, which pinballed in zero time at 2-3 different legs before ends up in the grasp of Wiedwald, CHAOS! Well…that was it… Spotcheck didn’t work and FCSP deflated, giving actually a couple of chances to MSV. An ambitious but not dangerous attempt by “BIG” John Verhoek (welcome back, always welcome here 😊) on 11′ and a penalty (looked in) that was not awarded to MSV on 13′ for a Buballa handball – Club, why this one is missing from the FCSP TV highlights? Afterwards, slumber… Not much happening, FCSP a little more in control but nobody able to harm anybody, at least until 38′ when a Carstens cross from the right found Meier in the heart of the box, the heel attempt that Meier tried would have made some goal if succesful but unfortunately didn’t work 1910%, ball ended to Wiedwald, without much stress actually. A little more pressure for FCSP towards the end of the half but nothing much, a temporary Miyaichi injury on 43′ didn’t help, FT 0-0.

Ryo got an elbo in the face, nothing serious (Source: http://www.fcstpauli.com, ©️ Witters)

Same story the 2nd half with FCSP playing dog and cat with MSV but with FCSP being a dog that can only bark but cannot bite and MSV the cat that’s always alerted and in full control, just showing some claw occasionally… Nothing much at the beginning with FCSP having the majority of space but no chances, actuall the first moment worthy of dicussing is an MSV Wolze attempt that ended to a sidenetting (58′). First BIG one in the 2nd half (there weren’t that many actually), for FCSP on 66′. Steal by Carstens, fast football by FCSP, leading to an 1-2 between Buchtmann and Sobota, with Buchtmann trying the shot from within the box (facing the net) but Wiedwald saving MSV for the 2nd time in the evening. Visits, attempts to penetrate but nothing more, with MSV having in between a chance, with Wiegel, after having got past Möller Daehli, trying a volley from the right edge of the box but ball ended past Himmelmann‘s right post. Into the last quarter of the 2nd half, with Millerntor getting progressively louder and louder but squad being unable to take advantage of the push, having only moment to show a Schneider (in from 76′ for Meier) strong 15m shot facing directly the net which enter unfortunately right on Wiedwald. There was whistling with the full time whistle but came only from a really small minority which, understanding that no one is following, shut the fuck up almost immediately…

Boys in Brown not really happy and for a good reason (Source: http://www.fcstpauli.com, ©️ Witters)

Footballwise that was shit. Good news is that this is not the issue here, nobody expected a kick ass football exhibition and an easy-peasy win here. This was about stopping the free fall, taking place after the “Derby”. Can’t tell if we have stopped going down but certainly we have grabbed ourselves on a rock here. If this rock is solid enough to keep us safe and start climbing again will show next week vs Holstein Kiel. It will not be about the result, after all a defeat at Kiel is never out of the question, it will be more about how we will play. Yesterday we didn’t achieve it in general but at least we tried to. A lot of course can argue about the ability of yesterday’s opponent. The way I see it, coming back in the scene of the “Derby crime” after the subsequent himiliation, is not a piece of cake and no opponent is easy. After surviving a fuckin’ car crash, sometimes before you start running again, you may have to learn to walk first. In this sense, this is not the best but not the worst possible first step.

It’s not about survival, team is safe. It’s not of course even about promotion (we’ve been already there…even though Union loses at home 0-1 to Paderborn at HT 😆). It’s about the dignity of the squad and the fair demand of seeing some good football from time to time. These on their own are good enough for motivation, expecting the next step next week.

Things were also better than expected (at least at the level of detail you can have watching the game on TV) around the pitch. There was no real love but there wasn’t at least an obvious hostility either. The small but nice things of life with Süd calling GG, Nord and even HT and them following weren’t there and maybe there will be sometime (hopefully not) before they come back. There was an attempt to make a good mood by everybody and was encouraging listening to Millerntor getting loud all around towards the end, trying to help a squad that couldn’t do it. Yeah, as said, there was some really short limited whistling but, at a point where everybody is angry against everybody else, isn’t so difficult to stop thinking for a moment.

https://twitter.com/MariusBoll/status/1111717418429222912

Was overall better than expected (to be more precise, it could be much worse), let’s see now

a) which will be the aftermath of the Club statement released on Thursday. Two wrongs DO NOT make a right Club, find the people responsible and apply stadium bans, collective punishment is not a good response to anything, it’s a priviliege of authoritarian regimes and the Club board is certainly not such a thing. What we’d like to believe is that the situation will defuse and this was just a way to pass a strong message to everybody. The fact that the description about the majority of the measures is quite abstract, helps supporting this direction. It’s now about waiting and see how it goes. Let’s hope that the break has helped in this direction.

b) if yesterday’s match has set the foundations for something better, this is completely up to Club, coach and squad, all we have to do is stay behind and support, let’s go and do the trick at Kiel, FORZA SANKT PAULI ☠️☠️☠️

PS: Union just managed to lose 1-3 at home 😇

PS: Not 4th anymore but quite a dense crowd 3pts behind Union ^ ^

Line Up:

Himmelmann

  Carstens   Avevor   Hoogma   Buballa

Zehir      Knoll

                Möller Daehli      Buchtmann      Miyaichi (Sobota 61′)

              Meier (Schneider 76′)

  

Match goals:

N/A

Spectators:  29546 (sold out)

Sankt Pauli cards: Sobota(3), Carstens(3)

Match highlights here

 

Further reading:

• Kicker (German)
• Official website
• Official Club statement regarding the derby incidents
• Magischer FC post regarding the Club statement (German, they have now a “Translate” button to the right 😉)
• Millernton regarding the Club statement (German, same thing as Magischer)
• USP Photo Gallery
• Kleiner Tod (German, late entry but for a good reason, covers also the April 4th event)