Matchday 20: FC Sankt Pauli vs VfB Stuttgart 1-1

Startin’ over on the right foot

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

With the loss against Fürth staying heavy in our backs and having made the worst start possible, we drag our pieces to Millerntor to see our beloved Sankt Pauli play against a really decisive Stuttgart that needed the three points and would fight for them through the entire 90 minutes. All we wanted to see was a Sankt Pauli giving them all kinds of hell and making Millerntor look like the worst place on earth for a team to visit against Sankt Pauli. Judging by the result and the way we stood in the field, I’d say we pretty much were there!

Action starts early on 4’ but not concerning an attempt on goal from either team. Miyaichi  and  Kempf collide, with the first finding with his shoulder the second in the head, breaking his jaw. Out of nowhere and clearly Miyaichi had no such intentions. His video on social media later apologizing to Kempf for the incident proves our saying. Although VfB seemed to have the first say in midfield, it looked like we were solid in defense and that we had control. Stuttgart couldn’t find the way to penetrate and despite the fact that we waited for counter attacks, when those took place they gave them headaches for sure. On 14’ , the ball is sent to Miyaichi who dribbles and sends in to  Veerman.  Phillips though sends it to a corner before the Dutch would become more dangerous. Red alert there for VfB who started to pull back a bit. On 22’ Himmelmann  blocks a high ball from Sosa  and sends it right back to the midline giving Sankt Pauli a new counter attack. Miyaichi looks for Gyökeres but his pass cannot make it through. On 34’ comes the biggest moment for this 45’ on our behalf.  Sobota sends to Veerman and he with a header sends it to Miyaichi . Miyaichi shoots against Kobel from close distance but sends the ball right to his hands. Action stays mostly in midfield after that with both teams trying to protect their defenses and looking for counter attacks that would bare fruit. Stuttgart has the last say though. Clock shows 45’+1 and the ball is with  Klement  shooting from really close, but Himmelmann repels it sending it to his upper post. The rebound shot from Gomez has no luck at all leaving the game to a really decent 0-0 for the first half.

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

Second half underway and all we want the least, is to see the same Sankt Pauli we saw in the first. Decisive and dangerous. On 56’ we all witness what Sankt Pauli can do if they decide to work together.  Flum fights his way through against Förster  and makes it to send to Miyaichi. The Japanese sends it to Veerman and there is where the Dutch proves his abilities as a striker. Keeps VfB defensives with his back protecting the ball and leaving no target for Kobel to lock on. While Stuttgart defense is on red alert trying to secure their box, Veerman instantly turns and shoots on Kobel’s left corner leaving him with no option. 1-0 for Sankt Pauli and things could get even worse for VfB when on 57’ Veerman again tried to take advantage of the jam in their defense. Kobel in an attempt to block it falls clumsy and the Dutch is there but in the end with a second try, Kobel blocks it and saves his nets. The nightmare was not over for Stuttgart who saw the 3 points flying away as the game proceeded. On 73’ Miyaichi shoots against Kobel but he fails to block it and the ball rolls behind him across his empty nets. Gyökeres tries to rush to the ball but VfB defensives are quicker sending it to a corner. Clock shows 80’ and there is where we pull back trying to keep this 1-0 intact. Wrong move there on our behalf. You cannot do that against a team as Stuttgart. 1 minute later Wamangituka  flanks and sends the ball in the middle, just out of our box where Gonzalez  leaves for Gomez who shoots and evens the score. Game ends with an opportunity for both teams. 90’ +1, and  Miyaichi in VfB box sends the ball to Buchtmann . Buchti fails to control it properly though and the tables turn. Quick ball play on the counter game and Gomez shoots once again against Himmelmann but this time Robin secures the ball.

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

We stood well man. Great game controlling Stuttgart’s offense and a great job on the counter attacks. VfB still had ball possession but didn’t go anywhere with it. Our shooting needs improvement of course. Two classic opportunities of us against the VfB keeper and both of them went to waste due to our players making it easy for him, shooting the ball directly on to his hands. A game we could have easily won. Why would we have to pull back from 70’ and on though since we were hammering VfB until then, is something I will never understand. It is not that we were leading the score by 5. Just a fragile 1-0 and we choose to keep it secure for 20 minutes barricading ourselves on defense? I dunno..It looks kinda dum. Especially if we take under consideration the fact that our defense is keen on making mistakes. Taking that aside, the game was really good and we believe Sankt Pauli stood up to our expectations, coming from a previous heavy loss. Let’s hope that our first game was just a wrong step to a great second half season starting from now and on. Tough games ahead but the heart of Sankt Pauli is us and we will be there. Next game is on Monday against Kiel. Forza SANKT PAULI!

Line Up:

source: http://www.kicker.de

Subs:

Buchtmann for Flum (77′)

Tashchy for Veerman (83′)

Ziereis for Sobota (90’+3)

Match goals:

1-0 Veerman (56′, Left foot shot, Miyaichi)

1-1 Gomez (81′, Left foot shot, Wamangituka)

Spectators: 25546 (sold out)

Sankt Pauli cards: Flum(3)

Match highlights here (goals only)

Further reading:

• Kicker (German)
• Official website
• Millernton (German/translator)
• Magischer FC (German/translator)
• Kleiner Tod (German)
• Stefan Groenveld (German)
• Beebleblox (German)

 

After the game there was a big march of almost 2500 people demonstrating against the new police security measures. Most of them, Sankt Pauli fans. “No to Hamburg turning into a police state” was their main moto and comrades from the Athens Club, watching the game earlier , participating in the demonstration after, were kind enough to send us footage from there. Thnx a lot guys.