CLINICAL UP FRONT AND SOLID AT THE BACK - FCSP SEE OFF REGENSBURG
Sunday, 24. January 2021, 16:30 Uhr
FC St. Pauli ended the first half of the season on a successful note with a 2-0 defeat of Jahn Regensburg. In a hard-fought contest Guido Burgstaller gave the Boys in Brown a 27th minute lead from a well-worked free-kick before Omar Marmoush doubled the advantage four minutes after the restart. The win lifted Timo Schultz's side out of the drop zone for the first time since Round 6.
Head coach Timo Schultz saw no reason to change the team that won 3-2 at Hannover 96 last weekend. Regensburg boss Mersad Selimbegovic, on the other hand, made one adjustment after the 3-1 home win over SV Sandhausen, Scott Kennedy coming in at centre-back for Sebastian Nachreiner.
Both teams looked to get forward early on without creating any chances of note, however. The wet, slippery surface was not entirely conducive to cultured football but the Boys in Brown attempted to play their way through at every opportunity, whereas the visitors preferred to operate with long balls forward. Daniel-Kofi Kyereh eventually got on the end of a free-kick in the 13th minute, but his header lacked the power to trouble the keeper.
It remained a high-intensity affair with little action in front of either goal – the tackles flew in relentlessly with neither side prepared to yield an inch. The visitors enjoyed their first sniff of goal on 25 minutes when Benedikt Saller knocked the ball inside for Max Besuschkow to shoot, but his effort cleared the crossbar by some distance.
Two minutes later the ball did find the net with a free-kick straight from the Kollau training ground! Rodrigo Zalazar angled the ball into the Regensburg box towards Kyereh, who knocked it back across goal first-time for Guido Burgstaller to finish from close range. One-nil!
The Boys in Brown continued to keep things tight at the back, leaving hardly any gaps for the visitors to exploit. Kaan Caliskaner was allowed to head towards goal in the 29th minute, but Dejan Stojanović had no problem making the save. Timo Schultz's charges remained the busier team but were unable to fashion any further chances before the break.
Guido Burgstaller notched his second goal for the Boys in Brown.
An unchanged home side emerged for the second half, while striker André Becker replaced midfielder Kaan Caliskaner for the visitors. Regensburg threatened early on through Saller, but Leart Paqarada launched himself in the way of the shot to prevent the ball finding the bottom-left corner for the equaliser. The Bavarians maintained the pressure and carved out two chances in quick succession following a corner. Sebastian Stolze cut the ball back from the byline and first Scott Kennedy and then Stolze saw efforts come back off the left-hand upright.
The response from the Boys in Brown was as instant as it was clinical. Kyereh found Zalazar with a quickly taken throw-in and he slipped the ball to Omar Marmoush, who left Jahn keeper Alexander Meyer no chance with an angled drive into the bottom-left corner from just inside the box.
Zalazar had had a hand in both goals and not long after the second he motored forward from midfield and had a pop himself from distance, only to see his shot drift wide of the right-hand upright. The visitors showed more attacking intent in the ensuing period and had more of the game, but the home rearguard stood firm and nurtured their two-goal lead.
Just after the hour Timo Schultz made his first substitution, Igor Matanović coming on for Daniel-Kofi Kyereh. The ubiquitous Zalazar tried his luck again from a free-kick on 69, this time the ball fizzed past the left-hand upright. With the game entering the final quarter of an hour, Leon Flach entered the fray for Finn Ole Becker. The visitors kept pushing but the gaps remained elusive, with the home defence determined to keep a clean sheet. Another free-kick of the type that produced the opening goal resulted in an opening for Sebastian Ohlsson, but his attempt from just inside the box proved too high.
Bolstered by the introduction of Adam Dźwigała and Lukas Daschner for the ailing Sebastian Ohlsson and Omar Marmoush, the Boys in Brown defended their lead with everything they had in the closing stages. The visitors created a few half-chances but were unable to find a way past Dejan Stojanović, leaving Timo Schultz's side to record their second win in a row and first clean sheet of the season, a result that propels them out of the drop zone for the first time since Week 6.
FC St. Pauli
Stojanović - Ohlsson (Dźwigała 85'), Ziereis, Buballa, Paqarada - Benatelli, Becker (Flach 74'), Kyereh (Matanović 63'), Zalazar - Marmoush (Daschner 85'), Burgstaller
Head coach: Timo Schultz
SSV Jahn Regensburg
Meyer - Saller, Kennedy (Otto 79'), Elvedi, Wekesser - Besuschkow , Gimber - Vrenezi (Opoku 61'), Caliskaner (Becker 46'), George - Stolze (Albers 79')
Head coach: Mersad Selimbegović
Goals: 1-0 Burgstaller (27'), 2-0 Marmoush (49')
Yellow cards: Zalazar, Matanović – Saller, Elvedi
Referee: Bastian Dankert (Rostock)
Photos: Witters
