Match report

Uninspiring same-city derby finishes 0-0

HSV played out a goalless draw with city rivals FC St. Pauli. Despite Die Rothosen dominating large preiods of the game, they could not carve out any clear-cut chances.

HSV and FC St. Pauli drew 0-0 on Sunday afternoon on Matchday 8. The 57,000 spectators inside a sold-out Volksparkstadion witnessed an unspectacular first half that was dominated by tackles with only one real scoring opportunity from a David Bates’ header, which went wide of the far post. HSV controlled the tempo of the game but were not able to create any clear chances as they could only manage a draw with a defensively-strong St. Pauli side.

HSV and Orel Mangala dominated the first half but could not find any gaps in the St. Pauli defence

Dominant HSV…

HSV coach Christian Titz made two changes from the 0-0 draw against Greuther Fürth by bringing in Arp and Hwang for Lasogga and Narey. The HSV attack put the St. Pauli defence under pressure straight from the kick off as Die Rothosen enjoyed over 80 percent possession in the first fifteen minutes of the game.

The visitors did not try to camp in their own box, but instead tried to keep Hunt & Co. as far away from their penalty area as possible, pressing them near the half-way line. This tactic worked well for up to the 25th minute when David Bates headed just wide from a corner, in a period of the game which HSV were completely on top. The Brown-Whites attempted to hit the home side on the counter attack as HSV tried to find the gaps in their defence. The HSV fans did not have much to worry about in the first half as the defensive partnership of Bates and van Drongelen shut out every attack and Pollersbeck did not have any serious saves to make. Both teams therefore went into the break goalless after an intense but tight first half.

Fiete Arp put in a decent performance up front but did not have any luck in front of goal

…without the breakthrough

Not much changed after the break as HSV kept trying to break through the St. Pauli defence, continuing to apply pressure going forward, however the home side did not create enough shooting opportunities. The visitors’ defensive line was proving difficult to break down which lead to Titz having to bring on more firepower off the bench as Ito came on just after the break, followed by Narey and finally Lasogga. St. Pauli’s defensive wall had to break somehow, however the visitors defended rigorously right up to the final whistle. HSV tried different ways of attacking in their attempt to find the breakthrough by resorting to long and high balls, but this tactic was also thwarted by the away team. Die Rothosen needed to also be aware of the counter attack as Sahin attempted to lob Pollersbeck from approximately 45 yards out and he would have scored the goal of his life had his attempt not been tipped over. The spoils were shared in the end as the visitors defended stoutly and successfully held out the home side to claim a point.

Match overview:

Hamburger SV: Pollersbeck - Sakai, Bates, van Drongelen, Santos - Janjicic - Hunt (53’ Ito), Mangala, Holtby, Hwang (65’ Narey) - Arp (72’ Lasogga)

FC St. Pauli: Himmelmann - Dudziak, Ziereis, Avevor, Buballa - Flum (83’ Zehir), Knoll - Sahin, Buchtmann, Möller Daehli (76’ Neudecker) - Diamantakos (73’ Veerman)

Goals: N/A

Attendance: 57,000

Referee: Markus Schmidt (Stuttgart)

Yellow cards: Arp (68’), Janjicic (81’) / Sahin (22’), Flum (32’), Buchtmann (68’)

Yellow-red cards: - / -

Red cards: - / -