SV Hamburg 0 FC St Pauli 1
While the rest of Europe were watching Arsenal beat Barcelona at the Emirates, Kult & Punk watched St Pauli beat Hamburg in the rearranged derby. To be honest the guys were so ecstatic that Andy James had to write the report - cheers Andy.
Hamburg - Gerald Asamoah's second-half header left a bewildered Hamburger SV empty handed as FC St. Pauli took the points in a pulsating Stadtderby on Wednesday evening.
The former Germany international's winner was one of few St. Pauli chances in a fiercely-contested encounter in which Armin Veh's side were unable to convert their domination into goals. The Kiezkicker now take over at the top of the 2011 form table as their unbeaten run extends to five games. Hamburg miss the chance to put themselves back among the European contenders.
Atmosphere fit for a derby
The floodlights at the Imtech Arena gave added spectacle to the fixture which had been rescheduled due to heavy rain ten days earlier. It was as though the atmosphere had been left to simmer with both sets of fans delivering vociferous support. The evening began with the hosts taking it upon themselves to set the tempo, with Pauli happy to sit back and await their chance to counter.
The visitors' plan threatened to backfire early on as HSV began to dictate proceedings on home turf. Heiko Westermann had the game's first chance on 16 minutes as Ze Roberto's free-kick found its way to him at the far post, but the skipper was quickly shut down by Pauli keeper Benedikt Pliquett, who was given a surprise start ahead of regular No1 Thomas Kessler.
Melting pot of emotions
Tensions soon began to boil over on the pitch with several fouls punctuating Hamburg's attempts to break the deadlock. Ruud van Nistelrooy should have done better when he headed straight at Pliquett from a Dennis Aogo cross, while Änis Ben Hatira also wasted a good opportunity from the edge of the box after Carlos Zambrano gifted him possession.
The Red Shorts were again the fastest out of the blocks in the second half and went mighty close to an opener just four minutes after the restart. Showing superb pace to latch onto a stray ball, Petric then displayed incredible footwork to shake off three markers and feed Ze Roberto on the left side, but the Brazilian World Cup winner cracked his finish into the side netting.
Asamoah wins it
Then the unthinkable happened, at least for the hosts. Having bossed the game for the best part of an hour, HSV experienced their first spate of pressure, and it was to be fatal. Max Kruse's poorly-struck corner was hooked on by Fabian Boll, and with the home defence flat-footed, Asamoah could hardly believe his luck as he nodded over the line from minimal distance. To say the goal had come against the run of play would have been an understatement.
As Hamburg threw everything forward in search of an overdue equaliser, Pauli had two excellent chances to cement victory as substitute Marius Ebbers first drew a good save from Frank Rost with a downward header and then failed to find Matthias Lehmann with the latter free in the box. The visitors continued to defend heroically at the other end, the final whistle sparking scenes of untempered celebration among the travelling support as St. Pauli won their first Hamburg derby since 1977.
Line ups:
HSV: Rost - Demel, Westermann, Mathijsen, Aogo - Jarolim, Ze Roberto - Ben-Hatira (Pitroipa 72'), Jansen (Elia 46') - Petric, van Nistelrooy (Guerrero 72')
Pauli: Pliquett - Thorandt, Zambrano, Gunesch, Volz - Lehmann, Boll (Bruns 89') - Kruse, Takyi (Ebbers 58'), Bartels - Asamoah (Daube 71')
Goals: 0-1 Asamoah (59')
No comments:
Post a Comment