FC St. Pauli

Following the 2-1 home defeat of SC Paderborn at the Millerntor on Wednesday evening, Markus Kauczinski named an unchanged side for the first derby at HSV since the 1-0 win in February 2011. The only two changes were on the bench, where Bernd Nehrig and Sami Allagui replaced Florian Carstens and Jan-Marc Schneider.

The atmosphere had already reached fever pitch before a ball had been kicked, with the travelling FCSP fans, clad in all white, producing a superb choreo to begin with. When the two sides finally locked horns in perfect weather conditions (lots of sun and 15 degrees), the Boys in Brown were content to surrender possession to the home side while attacking them early in their own half. The tackles flew in from the off, with no one prepared to give an inch.

With seven minutes on the clock, the Boys in Brown fashioned the first chance of the game through Marvin Knoll, who dispatched a free-kick into the penalty area for Johannes Flum to head towards goal. Julian Pollersbeck was alert to the danger, however, and got down quickly to gather. It was to prove the only situation of note in the opening stages, as the home side continued to run into a brick wall every time they pushed forward. Robin Himmelmann was not required to intervene at all, but then again, neither was Pollersbeck at the other end.

Our hosts finally created an opportunity in the 25^th minute, David Bates rising to meet an Aaron Hunt corner. His glancing header took a slight deflection on its way past the far post. HSV continued to enjoy more of the possession but the Boys in Brown more than held their own. Gotoku Sakai did swing a cross in towards Fiete Arp from the right on 39, but the latter's header sailed some distance over the crossbar.

A more promising opportunity arrived at the other end a minute before the break when Daniel Buballa charged into the box from the left and cut the ball back to Mats Møller Dæhli in the inside-left channel, but his shot was charged down by Bates. Moments later, Dimitrios Diamantakos tried his luck with a first-time effort from Buballa's low ball in, only to skew his shot wide of the left-hand upright.

Johannes Flum escapes his marker on seven minutes, but his header is gathered by Julian Pollersbeck in the HSV goal.

Both teams emerged unchanged for the second half and there was no change in the pattern of the game either. The Boys in Brown kept things tight at the back, defending from the halfway line, while HSV continued to lack punch from open play. Douglas Santos did see a free-kick come down on top of the net after 51 minutes, but it was watched all the way by Himmelmann.

Markus Kauczinski's side launched their first attack of the half on 59, the minute in which Gerald Asamoah headed the winner in the most recent derby over seven years ago. Christopher Buchtmann was given space on the left to direct a cross towards Diamantakos in the middle, but the striker was unable to get enough power on his header and Pollersbeck collected comfortably. HSV hit straight back, Orel Mangala teeing up Hee-chan Hwang, whose initial effort was blocked. From the rebound he then toe-poked the ball narrowly wide of the right-hand upright.

As the game began to pick up pace, the tackles grew in intensity and included the odd niggling foul. The fans had to wait until the 70^th minute to see the next shot on goal, substitute Khaled Narey's attempt failing to trouble Himmelmann. HSV had used up their full contingent of substitutions by the time Markus #Kauczinski decided to change things round, Henk Veerman coming on for Diamantakos on 73 and Richard Neudecker for Møller Dæhli on 76.

The Boys in Brown pushed forward again and after playing a one-two with Flum on 77, Buchtmann elected to pull the trigger from distance. The ball flew well over the top, however. Mangala also tried his luck from range 60 seconds later, and his shot cleared the bar by an even greater distance. Kauczinski then introduced Ersin Zehir with seven minutes left to complete the same trio of substitutions as against Paderborn, against whom Neudecker, Veerman and Zehir were all involved in the winning goal.

Unfortunately, the changes failed to have the same effect. Both teams pushed forward in the closing stages without finding a winner. Marvin Knoll drilled a shot just wide from 20 metres at the end of regulation time, and two minutes later a Sahin effort from 40 metres had Pollersbeck back-pedalling furiously to tip the ball over the top. A hard-fought derby thus ended goalless – a deserved share of the spoils all in all.

Hamburger SV

Pollersbeck - Sakai, Bates, van Drongelen, Douglas Santos – Janjicic – Hwang (Narey 65'), Mangala, Holtby, Hunt (Ito 53') – Arp (Lasogga 72')

Head coach: Christian Titz

FC St. Pauli

Himmelmann – Dudziak, Ziereis, Avevor, Buballa – Flum (Zehir 83'), Knoll – Sahin, Buchtmann, Møller Dæhli (Neudecker 76') – Diamantakos (Veerman 73')

Head coach: Markus Kauczinski

Goals:

Yellow cards: Arp, Janjicic – Sahin, Flum, Buchtmann

Referee: Markus Schmidt (Stuttgart)

Attendance: 57,000 (sold out)

Photos: Witters