SV Werder were forced to contend with a solitary point from the final game of Matchday 30 as they drew 0-0 with St. Pauli. The 42,100 fans present at the Weserstadion saw three goals disallowed for offside.
SV Werder were forced to contend with a solitary point from the final game of Matchday 30 as they drew 0-0 with St. Pauli. The 42,100 fans present at the Weserstadion saw three goals disallowed for offside.
Line-up and formation: Ole Werner made changes to his starting XI for the first time since the March international break. Justin Njinmah came in for Oliver Burke, whilst Derrick Köhn replaced Issa Kaboré in the matchday squad.
Starting XI: Zetterer - Stark, Pieper, Stage, Ducksch, Weiser, Njinmah, Lynen, Schmid, Agu und Friedl.
Bench: Backhaus - Jung, Silva, Bittencourt, Burke, Grüll, Köhn, Malatini und Topp.
First-half highlights:
4’: SVW get the first real chance of the game! The Green-Whites combine up the pitch with some neat one-touch play before Stage lays it off for Weiser, who flashes his shot from the edge of the box wide of the left post.
10’: The ball is in the back of the net. Faced with the Green-Whites’ press, Nemeth sends it long and picks out Boukhalfa in behind the defence. The midfielder slots it past Zetterer, but the linesman’s flag went up straightaway - offside.
26’: Ducksch fires a cross in from a free kick on the right flank. It misses Pieper, but lands in the path of Stage. The ball ultimately sails over the bar.
39’: This time, the ball is in the back of the Pauli net. Njinmah had taken back possession from Wahl, and the ball works its way into the path of Stage, who powers it past Vasilj into the bottom corner. Once again, the flag goes up as the Dane was stood in an offside position in the build-up.
Second-half highlights:
49’: Ducksch puts another superb cross in from the free-kick, picking out Stark. The centre-back’s header is tipped round the post by Vasilj.
58’: Njinmah knocks the ball round Saliakas and then has a go with his left foot, but Vasilj is on hand once and to prevent the goal.
59’: Werder are getting closer to that opening goal! Ducksch sends Njinmah on his way, who utilises his pace advantage over Wahl, before placing his shot just wide.
79’: The Weserstadion bursts into celebration as Bruke scores the opener. However, the Scot was offside when played through by Schmid, and so the goal is ruled out.
90’+2: Substitute Metcalfe boots the ball away after the whistle had gone and is shown a second yellow.
90’+4:Full-time. It ends goalless between Werder and FC St. Pauli. SV Werder’s next game is away to Union Berlin on Saturday, 3rd May (15:30 CEST).
Summary: After a lively start to the game, both sides were lacking that final ball in attack. St. Pauli had more possession in the first half and won more of the duels, whilst Werder initially struggled to find their footing in the game. Werder pushed for a winner in the second half, but could not find their reward for an improved showing.
SV Werder: Zetterer - Stark, Friedl, Pieper - Weiser, Lynen (81' Bittencourt), Agu (81' Köhn)- Stage, Schmid - Njinmah (69' Burke), Ducksch (87' Grüll)
FC St. Pauli: Vasilj - Nemeth, Wahl, van der Heyden (88' Ritzka) - Saliakas, Boukhalfa (75' Wagner), Smith, Treu - Sinani (75' Metcalfe) - Guilavogui (88' Eggestein), Weißhaupt (62' Saad)
Goals: -
Red card: Metcalfe (90'+2, kicking the ball away)
Referee: Tobias Reichel
Attendance: 42,100 (sold-out)
