Elias Saad was escorted through the mixed zone at the Millerntor stadium on Saturday evening with a thick bandage around his ankle. St. Pauli had previously lost 0:3 against 1. FSV Mainz 05 and now, at least for the time being, have lost their winger as well.

Saad had to survive his first test of strength after just a few minutes of play, when Dominik Kohr made a reckless tackle on him in the Hamburg half, with his studs raised. The Mainz defender got away with it surprisingly, then, like his colleagues, committed further fouls on the dynamic German-Tunisian, before Kohr literally kicked him out of the game with a brutal foul on the sidelines in the final minute.

Kohr’s final attack should not have happened if referee Christian Dingert had consistently punished the previous offences. Alexander Blessin is understandably annoyed. The coach blames the defeat on serious individual mistakes and not on the referee, but he is also justified in complaining: “It’s also about protecting a player.”

It is obvious that Mainz are targeting St. Pauli’s key player of recent weeks and that Dingert did not grant this “protection”. “There,” says Blessin, ‘a referee has to show some backbone and I didn’t feel that way. It was borderline and I really had to pull myself together. It’s always about the intensity and also about whether the defender can still play the ball.’

St. Pauli fears ligament injury

For St. Pauli and Saad, the evening and especially Kohr’s last kick could have consequences. Final examinations are still pending, but a tear of the inner ligament in the ankle is the concrete fear. “He really hit the inner ligament,” says Blessin. “We now hope that Elias won’t be out for so long.”

One thing is clear: St. Pauli would be hit hard by the 24-year-old’s absence. Saad had only just regained a starting place in the past few weeks, in the 3-4-3 system the promoted team had earned the first four points before there was the bitter setback against the Rhine Hessians – also because the promoted team of recent weeks has had the limits shown to them with a lot of toughness.