Kult & Punk: The boys enjoyed a quiet night watching the football, after the trouble in Hamburg over the weekend. They nearly left before the final whistle but with true grit hung on until the sweet end. St Pauli head top of the league after a great win.
FC St. Pauli moved to the top of the Bundesliga 2 standings with a dramatic last-second victory over MSV Duisburg on Monday evening.
A goal deep into stoppage time from Fin Bartels earned Andre Schubert's men the maximum haul against last season's beaten DFB Cup finalists and took them up to 13 points, one clear of Fürth and Cottbus in the standings. Duisburg, with just two points from their opening five matches, remain in a relegation spot, third from bottom.
Chance for Duisburg, St. Pauli go in front
St. Pauli made most of the running from the off and carved out their first chance of note in the 13th minute, Kevin Schindler heading Florian Bruns' deep cross wide of the post. Three minutes later though Duisburg exploded into life as Jürgen Gjasula drilled a thunderous long-range shot against the bar before latching onto the rebound and whipping in a cross that team-mate Emil Jula, inside the six-yard box, missed by inches.
Rather than acting as a wake-up call for either team, that chance was the last incident of note until round about the half-hour mark, at which point the game picked up with a vengeance. With 33 minutes on the clock a slack ball gave St. Pauli possession and they made optimal use of it on a swift counter-attack. Max Kruse powered his way down the left and played the ball in to Schindler, who fired a precise finish low into the corner from just outside the penalty area.
All-square, guests on the back foot
A timely interception by Markus Bollmann prevented a dangerous cross from Fabian Boll reaching Schindler a couple of minutes after that but the next opportunity was MSV's, and they took it. A long Kevin Wolze free kick into the box found Bollmann, whose header ricocheted off St. Pauli centre back Markus Thorandt straight to the feet of the unmarked Branimir Bajic, who had the easiest of finishes.
1-1 it remained through to half time and the first highlight of the second half was a pass interception and storming run into the Duisburg box by Bartels, but his finish was poor and Zebras keeper Florian Fromlowitz saved easily. St. Pauli kept their foot on the gas and in the 55th minute an excellent breakaway ended with Fromlowitz pulling off a fine save to Kruse's first-time shot. Seven minutes Kruse, with a deflected shot and Mahir Saglik, from the resultant corner, both went close again for the hosts.
Bartels at the death
With just over 20 minutes to go, under-pressure MSV were reduced to ten men when midfielder Vasilis Pliatsikas was sent off after picking up a second booking. Dropping even deeper to try and preserve their point, they survived a 77th-minute pinball session inside the area and five minutes on from that it was Fromlowitz to the rescue again, this time pushing a Rouwen Hennings header over the bar.
St. Pauli plugged away until the bitter end and their perserverance made it turn out sweet. In the third and final minute of added time, substitute Dennis Daube broke free down the right and played in a low cross that Bartels slid in to knock over the line. Better late than never for the home side, and the Millerntor erupted.
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