St Pauli v Braunschweig preview

The last two weeks have been good to us, and the 1-0 away win to against Duisburg last weekend leaves us in second place ahead of Matchday 23.

We host Braunschweig on Sunday, who sit in eight place after gaining promotion from the third division last season. When we met them earlier in the season they beat us 1-0 after a Kruppke header went right through the hands of Tschauner. We struggled to create chances in the first half and had to rely on Tschauner on more than one occasion to keep Braunschweig out with some good reaction saves. It was unfortunate that it was his mistake that cost us a draw after he kept us in the game for so long. We fought back and forced two brilliant saves from their keeper late in the match and probably deserved an equaliser.

Andre Schubert has said in the pre game presser that we "must be wide awake" and identified Braunschweig's compact defence as one of their main assets. While admitting the match against Duisburg didn't see us play the best football, Schubert agreed it was a good win and noted that it is a crucial stage of the season, where we have to fight for every inch. Official sites article on the press conference here.

Florian Bruns has said that he "expects a tight game against Braunschweig. This is no picnic. We must try impose our quality and take the three points." Bruns played a central position behind the striker last weekend in Duisburg and had a pretty good game. He said he felt good in that position and highlighted his enjoyment at getting more ball than when on the wings. His press conference is here. 

Sobiech (ankle) and Ebbers (thigh) are still out while Zambrano is not a certainty as he still is recovering from a flu suffered during the week. 

The biggest game this weekend in the promotion race is Paderborn (5th) v Eintracht Frankfurt (1st). Only three points separate them, and this could be a match that helps see the top five completely reshuffle again by the end of this weekend. Eintracht would be confident, though, after winning 6-1 over FSV Frankfurt last weekend while Paderborn aren't in the best form at the moment.

Elsewhere Furth host Bochum and Dusseldorf host Aachen (a game they'll look to use to get back into form after their slow start in the second half of the season)

Duisburg 0-1 St Pauli

We came into this match knowing a win could send us first after things went out way last week - Our home win v Bochum (2-1) was scrappy, but it didn't really matter. Furth smashed Paderborn and then Dusseldorf and Eintracht Frankfurt drew, finishing off a weekend of brilliant results for us.

This weekend was much the same. The 1-0 away win to Duisburg wasn't sensational but it was a solid performance. Furth then went on to draw with Ingolstadt, Paderborn drew with Dresden and Dusseldorf lost to 1860 Munich. The only negative was Eintracht won the Frankfurt derby 6-1 but, after sitting in 5th place just two weeks ago, we now occupy second spot.

Fabian Boll scored the only goal of this game in the 21st minute. It was a slow start with Duisburg having the only real chance of the opening stages in the 10th minute. So it wasn't really too much of a surprise that the goal came from a set piece. Bruns whipped the ball in from the right and the Duisburg defence disappeared. Boll had a free header from four yards out and made no mistake.

The match didn't open up at all after the goal. Duisburg may have played a slightly better game than us during the first half, but it wasn't exactly end to end stuff. Which was probably a good thing, as our defence looked really inconsistent and you couldn't tell if they were going to stand strong and stop any attack coming there way or simply fall to pieces.

The latter happened a couple of times during the second half. Zambrano got beaten way too easily in the 52nd minute, and Thorandt got turned inside out after 58 minutes. Luckily for us, Duisburg failed to capitalise on both occasions. Partly due to Pliquett's great form as he made a few great saves in this game, but there's no doubting Duisburg's finishing lacked conviction.

Most of the chances in the back end of the game were Duisburg's, but even then they weren't exactly clear-cut. We were only looking to defend out lead and work hard to keep the three points and move into first. Daube came on for Bartels in the 69th minute, Naki on for Bruns in the 80th and Rothenbach for Schindler right at the death.

Our last two wins haven't been pretty but they've been important. We've struggled to break into that top three for most of this season, possible due to slip ups in games we should win. Losses to FC Erzgebirge Aue, Ingolstadt and Aachen haven't come back to hurt us thankfully (mainly due to the fact we only have three draws). We have the most losses out of anyone in the top five, but also the most wins. 

Next up we have Braunschweig at home, then 1860 Munich away. Two games that can cause us trouble if we're not on form. Can't afford to lose with the 2. Bundesliga top five so tight!

1. Eintracht 46pts

2. St Pauli 45pts

3. Furth 44pts

4. Dusseldorf 44pts

5 Paderborn 43pts

Forza St Pauli!

Hansa R*stock 1-3 St Pauli - Who the fuck are Hansa R*stock?

Saglik's brace after coming on off the bench gave us a much welcomed three points after only a draw at home against Furth in the last fixture. Our win cuts our gap from first from five points to three after Dusseldorf drew 0-0 away at Union Berlin.

Max Kruse slotted home his 9th goal of the season - as many goals as the entire R*stock team has this season - in the 40th minute. A good counter attack led to Naki putting Kruse through on goal after drawing the center backs attention. Kruse placed his shot past the 'keeper and gave us the lead - which is where the off field issues started.

I don't know much of the facts, but basically Hansa R*stock fans launched up to five flares into the St Pauli away bay (to the cheers and celebrations of the rest of the stadium) and the players went off for 10 minutes.

R*stock managed to equalise despite our domination after 50 minutes. Tschauner spilled a sitter which Marek Mintal put away. It's always hard to criticise Tschauner when he makes a mistake though, as it's usually surrounded by brilliant vital saves. This game was no exception. His point-blank stop in the 39th minute was the crucial stepping stone towards our first goal off the counter. R*stock were certain they'd found the net, but Tschauner's reactions were too good.

I was worried it'd become "one of those games" as we saw a lot of chances go wasted throughout this game, but it was the super sub Mahir Saglik who managed to put any concerns to rest. His first goal came off the back of a free kick after we spent a minute clearing a whole heap of banana's the R*stock fans threw on the pitch. It was a sweet moment of joy that pretty much signalled game over.

But Saglik made sure of victory in injury time. A blistering counter was almost messed up as Bartels opted to pass across goal to Kruse when one on one. The pass was a little heavy and it didn't allow Kruse a tap in like planned. It seemed R*stock had time to get enough players back, but Saglik showed composure to place the ball into the back of the net and seal the three points.

Forza Sankt Pauli!

Friendly: St Pauli 4-5 Werder Bremen

We fell 5-4 to Bremen last night at the Millerntor, but there were, by all reports, many positives to take out of this fixture.

Five players who started on Friday night v Bochum were in the starting line-up on Tuesday night. Sobiech, Schachten, Rothenbach, Bruns and Saglik all played in both games, and will probably start on Monday too - except for Rothenbach with Kalla possibly returning from injury.

But the friendly gave game time to players who have struggled to get onto the pitch in the league games such as Pliquett, Funk and Daube. Morena also picked up a starting place, as did our new signing, straight from the Bremen bus, Kevin Schindler.

We were down 4-1 at half time and 5-1 after 51 minutes, and it was our new signing Schindler who scored our only goal in the first half as he took advantage of his height - 1.91m - and headed home.

From there we made a bit of a comeback with Saglik leading the charge. His strikes in the 55th and 66th minute got us within two goals. Although, we couldn't manage to complete the comeback, Funk scored a goal from distance to give us our fourth and throw his name further into the team selection mix.

The disappointment, of course, is that our defence was so leaky. Sobiech and Schachten have been regulars this season - and have played well - but featured in the first half where we conceded five times. Although I didn't see the match, I think Schachten may have been in midfield - him or Morena - but the point still remains. Gunesch and Rothenbach, the ones we'd have to turn to in case of an injury crisis, were also involved in this back four that got torn apart.

But it is good to see Saglik snaring a double and our new signing finding the score-sheet just 25 minutes into his first appearance for us. As I said, I'm unsure of the formation and selections, but I'd guess:

--------------------Pliquett
Rothenbach-----Sobiech------Morena-----Gunesch
-----------------------Funk
------------Schachten----Daube
Schindler-------------------------------Bruns
--------------------Saglik

Friendly v Bremen tonight + Kevin Schindler

It was announced yesterday that we would play Bundesliga club Werder Bremen tonight at the Millerntor (6pm local, 2am Wednesday AEST).

After our 2-1 victory on Friday night our next game isn't until Monday. Andre Schubert wants to avoid rustiness developing in between this 10 day break, and thus this friendly was scheduled.

This is a good, competitive match against a solid team top flight team featuring Naldo who is returning from a long injury.

The break offers a chance for a few of our players to rest their niggling injuries - Naki, Kalla, Kruse, Hennings, Ebbers, Takyi, Heber and Filipovic. Only a few...

While we may get the chance to see some more of the likes of Funk, Drobo-Ampem, Daube etc tonight, Kalla is hopeful of returning on Monday night against Duisburg and could feature late in this game.

Werder Bremen striker Kevin Schindler, who has spent loan spells at numerous 2.Bundesliga clubs, may not be on the Bremen bus home after this fixture. It sounds as if, for 150,000 Euros, the 23-year-old versatile forward will be playing for St Pauli soon.

The 1.91m attacker can play up front or on the wing and has featured at Augsburg, Duisburg and, worst of all, Hansa Rostock.

But if the club believes he will add to the squad, lets welcome the front man. He'll probably be a third or fourth choice striker and a fourth or fifth choice winger - depending on where Hennings may be required on match day, or if he proves to be a step behind Schindler.