With only two wins, FC St. Pauli had so far not been known for being a home power – but on Friday evening, the newly promoted team, of all things, managed the first home win for a Bundesliga team in March with a 1-0 victory over Hoffenheim. And a real breakthrough.
The Hamburg team had not won in six games, but they were really fired up by their fans that evening, who greeted them with fireworks and flares as they arrived at the stadium by bus. “An amazing gesture,” said coach Alexander Blessin, “I’ve never experienced anything like it. It released an incredible energy.” Philipp Treu confirmed: “It was 7:15 p.m., and we all wanted to run out onto the pitch right then.”
Treu’s movements were ultimately decisive in ending the team’s week-long dry spell when he aggressively closed down 1899 keeper Oliver Baumann’s pass to Tom Bischof, outwitted Baumann after winning the ball and then laid it off to Noah Weißhaupt for the golden goal. “That,” reveals the provider, ‘was exactly how we practiced it, we wanted to win the ball in exactly those situations. I anticipated that the ball could come there.’
Goal scorer Weißhaupt also agrees that St. Pauli’s win was not only the result of an incredible energy performance, but also a clear game plan. “We were optimally prepared for everything beforehand and then also noticed in the game that everything went exactly as the coach had planned.” The professionals also followed the coach’s instructions when it came to dealing with the long-awaited win.
Van der Heyden questionable
Blessin had called out nine endgames before the game against the rival. “Now there are only eight endgames,” says Treu, “and this success gives us a lot of energy.” It remains to be seen whether Siebe van der Heyden will be able to play in the final weeks, which begin after the international break with the trip to FC Bayern. The Belgian central defender had to leave the field prematurely against Hoffenheim. The reason: tendonitis in the back of his knee.
Blessin revealed that the loan player from Mallorca had already had problems in training on Thursday. “The MRI showed irritation.” It is not yet clear whether the defensive stabilizer will be out of action. One thing is clear: in view of the absence of central defender Karol Mets and van der Heyden’s form, an outage would be a serious loss.
