Kult & Punk: St Pauli held to a draw in Frankfurt

Kult & Punk: St Pauli draw in Frankfurt, thanks again to Andy James for filling in for the boys, who remaind in Hamburg. 

Eintracht Frankfurt again came from behind in the 2. Bundesliga's big match on Monday evening as Alex Meier struck the equaliser in a 1-1 draw at home to fellow relegated side FC St. Pauli.

With the crowd limited to just 19,000 owing to Frankfurt fans' misdemeanours at the end of last season, an unusually hollow Commerzbank Arena crowd watched Fin Bartels give the visitors the lead in a first half of which both sides enjoyed a share. Eintracht then turned it up a gear in the second period and eventually made their pressure count thanks to Meier's late volley.

Chances for both

Following an error-laden opening 20 minutes, first real chance eventually materialised as Marius Ebbers beat Eintracht keeper Thomas Kessler to a loose ball in the box and laid off for Sebastian Schachten. He sent a perfectly-weighted ball into the centre, but Bartels' header was misdirected the over the bar.

At the other end Frankfurt continued to dictate the tempo and almost went in front when Caio curled a speculative side-footer towards the right corner, but St. Pauli custodian Philipp Tschauner rose brilliantly to tip the ball around the post at full stretch.

Offside trap beaten

Another lean spell ensued, but slowly Andre Schubert's away side began to enjoy their own spell of dominance. Unlike Frankfurt, they made the most of it on 38 minutes. A clipped ball towards the edge of the box by Deniz Naki was masterfully headed on by Ebbers to Fabian Boll, who just managed to stay onside to cushion the ball across for Bartels to shift into the empty net.

Erwin Hoffer was denied a swift equaliser by the offside flag minutes after the restart, but it was a sign of things to come as the hosts valiantly fought to get back into the game. Constant Djakpa sent in a superb cross from the right approaching the hour which Meier rose well to power goalwards, but once again Tschauner stretched to tip over.

Meier saves the day

Undeterred, the Eagles continued to prey on the St. Pauli defence and eventually got their reward on 78 minutes. After leading the comeback against Fürth last week, Meier was again the hero for Frankfurt, striking a fine volley into the bottom-left corner after Boll's headed clearance fell kindly on the edge of the box.

Jan Philipp Kalla almost snatched it for Pauli towards the end with a low strike that scraped the upright, but it would have been harsh on the home side, who pressed for a winner until referee Thorsten Kinhöfer's final whistle left both sides plus a point.

Andy James