In the north-west of the Virtual Bundesliga, the leaders and their closest rivals faced off. It was not only the constellation that provided excitement and drama, there was also plenty on offer on the digital pitch
The 14th matchday was coming up: First versus third – St. Pauli against SC Paderborn. A chance for revenge for the East Westphalians, as the Kiez had snatched the lead in the table from Paderborn at the end of the year.
But it wasn’t just a top match on paper – there was also plenty on offer on the digital pitch. The Pauli duo of Kamal Kamboj and Koray Kücükgünar started the match better. Although Paderborn had more of the play, it was St. Pauli who scored the goals. The effective Hanseatic side led 2-0 for a long time in the first half before Jonas ‘Jonny’ Wirth and Jamie ‘Chaser’ Bartel were able to close the gap shortly before the break. A glimmer of hope? It didn’t seem to be after that, as St. Pauli restored the gap just moments after the restart.
Questionable penalty kick starts the comeback
St. Pauli held on for a long time again and everything pointed to a successful start for the leaders. However, a questionable decision by the referee in FC 24 was to call this into question once again. In the penalty area, a Paderborn player was cut off by the ball – which was actually fair, but the referee saw things differently and pointed to the spot. A chance that the third-placed team in the table did not miss.
The Paderborn team were able to regain hope when they confidently scored from the bottom right. The Kiez’s strategy was clear after the kick-off. Keep the ball as far as possible over the full distance and avoid losing possession. But they failed to do just that and so it came as it had to. Just a few seconds into stoppage time, Florent Muslija scored a dream goal from the penalty line. Trivela’s shot from outside the box gave the opposing goalkeeper no chance – 3:3. The St. Pauli players sank to the ground in FC 24. With the false start averted, Wirth then gave his colors the advantage. He won 2:1 against Kücükgünar. A draw between Kamboj and Bartel finally made the revenge for Paderborn perfect.
As a result, the second-division team is back at the top of the table in the VBL Club Championship. Also because the runners-up – SV Werder Bremen – dropped points. The Green-Whites were held to a draw against Fortuna Düsseldorf. This is tantamount to an extremely exciting situation in the table. Both St. Pauli and Bremen are on 33 points – the East Westphalians have one point more. Hot on their heels is FC Schalke 04, who are in fourth place with 24 points after a successful start to 2024. All VBLCC results and tables can be found in our matchday overview
