Kult & Punk: Hoffenheim snatch a draw against St Pauli

The two boys would like me to thank Andy James for providing us with the match report.  They where unable to attend tonight's match in person, due to a Misty Maiden guest ale and a darts match against Heir Flick and the Sisters of Mersey, from the Wirral (when you spell check Wirral it offers viral, profound with some of the ladies in this team). They did suspend the arrows to view the game, however, the match report provided was inappropriate - but there is always next week. Cheers Andy - a star.

Sinsheim - A last-minute goal from 1899 Hoffenheim's David Alaba ensured Marco Pezzaiuoli's first home game in charge did not end in defeat, denying FC St. Pauli a crucial three points in the process.


FC Bayern loanee Alaba's deflected effort put paid to a workmanlike second-half display from the visitors, who managed to turn the game on its head with goals from Max Kruse and Gerald Asamoah after Marvin Compper had given the home side a first-half lead.

Compper: strike two

The first-ever Bundesliga meeting between these two clubs at the Rhein Neckar Arena began with the hosts largely in control, though they struggled to trouble Pauli goalkeeper Thomas Kessler in the early stages. Compper should have made better use of a Sejad Salihovic free-kick, but blazed over from what looked to be an offside position.

Nonetheless the German defender made no mistake from an almost identical chance just before the half-hour mark, sweeping in Sebastian Rudy's searching set-piece at the far post after the ball had evaded a sea of defenders. It was just reward for the Sinsheim outfit, whose persistent probing had thus far been effectively fended off by the Kiezkicker.

Fresh approach

St. Pauli switched to a more offensive approach having gone behind, but aside from a fearsome Max Kruse strike which needed a strong hand from Tom Starke, Holger Stanislawski's charges hardly came close to an equaliser as Hoffenheim strolled to a half-time lead.

1899 were almost gifted a second goal within minutes of the restart too, but Matthias Lehmann's misguided clearance was clawed away from goal by the backtracking Thomas Kessler. It proved to be a turning point. Just a few moments later and Asamoah was put through at the other end, he was illegally felled, but the advantage was played and Kruse pounced on the loose ball to slot home an equaliser from 18 yards.

Late drama

Bastian Oczipka's silky run and shot almost tipped the scales immediately, before a sweetly-struck Charles Takyi beat Starke and cannoned back off the crossbar. That gave the visitors the confidence they needed to go on and turn the tables, so it was no major surprise when Asamoah, leading the St. Pauli line in place of the injured Marius Ebbers, controlled Oczipka's left-wing cross before smashing his side in front with just nine minutes remaining.

But there was still more drama to come in the final seconds as Alaba's left-foot strike from the edge of the box took a considerable deflection off of Ralph Gunesch, veering beyond the stranded Kessler and into the back of the net. It was a cruel blow for St. Pauli who desperately needed the points, they remain in the relegation playoff place as Hoffenheim squeeze above Eintracht Frankfurt into eighth.

1899: Starke - Beck, Vorsah, Compper, Ibertsberger - Alaba, Weis (Mlapa 80') - Rudy (Sigurdsson 68'), Salihovic, Vukcevic (Thomalla 90+1') - Ibisevic

Pauli: Kessler - Thorandt, Zambrano, Gunesch, Oczipka - Boll, Lehmann - Kruse (Naki 77'), Takyi (Sukuta-Pasu 86'), Bartels - Asamoah (Hennings 84')

Goals: 1-0 Compper (29'), 1-1 Kruse (51'), 1-2 Asamoah (81'), 2-2 Alaba (90')

Attendance at the Rhein Neckar Arena: 29,300

Andy James