On the one hand, the disappointment was palpable. After the final whistle, the players of FC St. Pauli sank exhausted onto the pitch and had to watch how Hamburger SV exuberantly celebrated the 4:3 derby victory in the second Bundesliga in front of the north curve of the Volksparkstadion. It was a severe setback for St. Pauli after the recent winning streak, which should finally bury their dreams of promotion.
Coach Fabian Hürzeler was correspondingly emotional after the final whistle, which HSV sports director Jonas Boldt felt directly. The reason for the war of words was that Hürzeler had felt provoked by the opposing bank. “These are emotions after the game. I think they’re part of it,” Hürzeler later said matter-of-factly. His frustration was still clearly visible. “The disappointment about the defeat is huge. It would have been our turn if we had won.” Hürzeler also skipped the obligatory handshake with the opposing coach after the press conference, in this case Tim Walter.
His team had to admit defeat despite a strong performance in the away game. “Football-wise it was another step in the right direction, in terms of defense it was a step backwards,” said Hürzeler. “We can’t get four goals here. That’s too much to get something from HSV.”
Tim Walter, on the other hand, was very happy about his team’s derby win, which had shown itself to be extremely efficient on Friday evening. HSV only scored five of their nine goals on goal. In the end there were four goals. “We were in a really good position for the first 15 minutes and we faltered a bit because of the goal we conceded. It then took us a little bit to get our bearings again and in the end Jonas had a golden moment,” Walter summed up. “That was a can opener for us.”
A can opener that St. Pauli, who defended unusually passively on Friday, made possible in the first place. St. Pauli gave the central defender too much space and time in his own penalty area for the dream goal of the strong Jonas David, who won 78 percent of his duels. Even with the other goals conceded, the defensive St. Pauli, which had recently been the great strength, did not seem awake enough.
The HSV is on a direct promotion place
Both Karol Mets and captain Leart Paqarada blundered when HSV scored the opening goal. After conceding only three goals in the first ten victorious games under Hürzeler, St. Pauli conceded six in the last two games against Braunschweig and HSV. Added to this was the poor exploitation of chances, which at least cost St. Pauli the draw.
Due to the defeat, they are now seven points behind the relegation place, with Heidenheim, which has meanwhile been pushed out of second place by HSV, only plays on Sunday and can continue to score points against Holstein Kiel. SV Darmstadt 98 remains the leader of the standings with a five-point lead after beating Karlsruher SC 2-1 on Friday evening.
That was the can opener for us.
TimWalterHamburger SV coach, on Jonas David’s equalizer.
HSV, where Sonny Kittel and Bakery Jatta were particularly convincing on the offensive, can continue to dream of promotion. And that despite the fact that spring has arrived in Hamburg, which is actually the signal for HSV to rest and put their feet up. After a small phase of weakness in Walter’s team in the last few games, the derby victory could now give the last boost for the remaining five games.
“Everything that comes next this week, we’ll see tomorrow during and after training. Then we analyze and then we take a look,” said Walter, who at least wanted to enjoy the victory with his team on Friday. Nevertheless, he should also hope that Heidenheim slips up on Sunday in order not to slip back into the dreaded third place.
