Pauli defends top of the table: Mistakes cost Werder victory

Sunday 24 October 2021

Pauli defends top of the table
Mistakes cost Werder a win

While FC St. Pauli and Jan Regensburg are higher in the second Bundesliga table, Werder Bremen cannot beat SV Sandhausen either. A disastrous bad pass puts the bunker kid back in play, and then Niklas Volkrug of all the people featured in a big way.

SV Sandhausen – Werder Bremen 2:2 (1:1)

Of all the people, Niklas Volkrug saved Werder Bremen from a bitter defeat in the second division. The pardoned striker, still suspended during the week for verbal abuse against professional football director Clemens Fritz, scored 2-2 (1-1) at SV Sandhausen in the 11th round in the second minute of stoppage time. After that, he even made it to the post. However, the descent threatens to sink into the mid-level, and a straight-up ascent can’t be a problem in this fashion on Weser. The gap in promotion ranks is already seven points.

Defensively shaken Bremer, who advanced through Nikolai Raab (12th), has avoided at least his fourth defeat in his last five league games. Sandhausen missed his first home win despite two goals from Pascal Testruit (29 / foul, 84).

In front of 7,252 spectators in a turbulent first half, Werder was very lucky as the hosts neglected to neglect several big opportunities. The North Germans missed the joy of Raab’s opening goal themselves, Lars Lukas May making the penalty possible with a disastrous building error. Also in a 1:2 deficit goal, May made a nasty mistake by just letting Testroet run in his back.

After 0:3 at Darmstadt 98 the day before the match, Volkrug was suspended for three days, at Sandhausen he was replaced by coach Marcus Anfang who came under harsh criticism in the 57th minute. In the closing stages, Werder became more dangerous minute by minute and could have won.

FC St. Pauli – Hansa Rostock 4: 0 (2: 0)

Meanwhile, FC St. Pauli boosted their lead in the table admirably. Against newcomers Hansa Rostock, the Hamburg-based enthusiasts deserved to win 4-0 (2-0) and celebrated their fifth success in a row. With 25 points, St. Pauli is still in the lead after 11 days of matches.

Jackson Irvine (12th), Daniel Kerr (18th), Guido Burgstaller (61st) and Simon McKinnock (78th) fired Timo Schultz’s side for their eighth win of the season. Rostock after the sixth defeat with 11 points in the lower midfield. St. Pauli celebrated the first chance, with Irvine heading a Luca Zander cross over the line. Just six minutes later, Leart Paqarada triumphed on the left flank and entered the penalty area, where Kerry was not harassed with a header. Maximilian Dettgen (23) and Zander (42) could have gone further, but they failed because of Hansa goalkeeper Markus Kolk.

After the break, the hosts immediately built up the performance from the first round. Burgstaller (#50) is supposed to have increased to 3-0, but according to the video images, the score was not calculated due to a hack site for template provider Irvine. Burgstaler later rewarded himself and curled the ball into the net with a direct capture to score his 10th goal of the season. The Austrian replaced McKinnock in the final minutes, who also scored 20 seconds after being substituted.

SSV Jahn Regensburg – Hannover 96 3:1 (2:0)

Jan Regensburg is still in the promotion race. The coach’s team, Mirsad Selimjovic, defended the second place in the table with some difficulty, with a 3-1 (2-0) result against Hannover 96.

Sarpreet Singh ushered in their sixth win of the season for Uber Palatinate, unbeaten at home, in the 16th minute in front of 8,462 spectators. He was followed by Carlo Boukhalfa (22). With his goal he benefited from an unfortunate act by guest goalkeeper Martin Hansen, who represented the injured Ron Robert Zeller. After a 1:2 by Sebastian Kirk (54th place), the SSV had to shiver again before Joel Zorts (90+2) showed it all.

Hannover 96 has to go down more and more after the fourth game without a win, including three defeats. The second round of the DFB Cup is scheduled for both teams on Wednesday: Jan plays league rival Hansa Rostock, Hannover meets Fortuna Dusseldorf.