Zero score at Millerntor
©IMAGO
Newly promoted FC St. Pauli has picked up its first point of the season. After three previous defeats, the Bundesliga club surprisingly held Champions League participant RB Leipzig to a 0-0 draw. Coach Marco Rose’s team missed out on reaching second place in the table, but the fifth-placed team, level on points and goals with 1. FC Union Berlin, is unbeaten in 15 league games, equalling the record from the first half of 2019.
The Saxons, who were unsuccessful in the European Cup during the week, appeared powerless and lacking in ideas in front of 29,251 spectators and had to accept the justified draw. The offensively oriented Hamburg team, who were reminiscent of the fast-paced football from the promotion season, should have even taken the lead at one point.
A certain European Cup fatigue seemed to be circulating among the Saxons. Leipzig traveled to the Hanseatic city with a bitter 1:2 defeat in the Champions League at Atlético Madrid, including a goal conceded at the end of the game. Coach Rose changed his team in five positions, bringing in RB veteran Yussuf Poulsen instead of top attacker Loïs Openda. St. Pauli coach Alexander Blessin, who worked as a youth coach at Leipzig from 2012 to 2020, apparently reacted to criticism in recent weeks and brought in the more offensively active attackers Oladapo Afolayan and Elias Saad from the start.
This made St. Pauli look much more dangerous up front compared to the first three match days, which all resulted in defeats for the local club. Saad (17th) created the first big chance with his powerful shot on the well-reacting RB goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi. Captain Jackson Irvine (18th) headed the resulting corner kick just over the visitors’ goal.
The fast wingers caused problems for the RB defense, with loud support from the fans in the stands. Meanwhile, Hamburg’s defense gave Dutch creative engine Xavi Simons little room to develop. Leipzig made a few mistakes in the build-up play and lost many duels. The strong Afolayan (42′) missed the goal that was long overdue at that point.
The second half started similarly to the first. The unimaginative Leipzig team held back and the hosts dominated the game. Afolayan, who was still active, went down after a duel in the penalty area (55th minute) and called for a penalty. But referee Robert Hartmann saw things differently.
Rose reacted a little later with a triple substitution, bringing on Openda among others. The Belgian then tested St. Pauli’s Nikola Vasilj with his shot. But even after that, the guests remained far too harmless.
