FC St. Pauli

Philipp Ziereis: "The luck was on our side at the end. We got everything in the way. The ball hitting the bar and bouncing back out again sums up our situation at the moment in that it doesn't go in and we go on to win the game. In the second half, we lost our way after the second goal, which shouldn't happen. The gaps were far too big and we let Darmstadt come back into it. We allowed them far too many chances, which makes us landing the lucky punch all the sweeter, but we'll take it, of course."

Guido Burgstaller: "I couldn't really see what happened at the end from the bench, I just heard that Seb cleared the ball off the line. It's our fault for getting into that situation. We were 2-0 up and could have led 3-0 but we let Darmstadt back into the game and they played well then. We have to learn to defend better and focus more on counterattacking. Nevertheless, we're happy to have won today. Before the game, I said it wouldn't come down to any one individual and that we needed the whole team. I was in the right place again today and was able to help the team, but the lads are making it easy for me at the moment by playing good passes."

Head coach Timo Schultz: "The win was lucky but not undeserved. We took a deserved lead in the first half. In the second, Darmstadt tried to get behind our backline faster. We had the one situation where we tried to carry the ball over the line. Darmstadt pushed us all the way, but I think we were worth the win. It went back and forth today, unlike our previous games. After going two up we conceded far too quickly, unfortunately. Darmstadt are one of the best footballing sides in the league. We lost our grip a bit midway through the second half, and Darmstadt would have deserved a draw for sure, but we'll take the win. We've earned our luck and the situation right at the end is an example of that. As a coach, you love to see the way the lads get stuck in and give it all they've got."

Markus Anfang (SV Darmstadt 98): "Congratulations to St. Pauli on the three points. It was a dramatic game with so much happening. We had a lot of situations in the game but ended up conceding unluckily. In the second half, it was Darmstadt doing all the pressing, we were going forward the whole time, so the result is annoying, of course. We're not saying we need more luck, just no bad luck for once. We have to defend better for their second goal, and St. Pauli took the few chances they had with their individual quality, as the third goal showed. We came back from two down really well and were on the verge of winning it. The corner at the end sums up our situation a little in that we aren't putting them away. I can't fault my team apart from our chance conversion."

Photos: Witters