Derby home win against St. Pauli
HSV hasn’t been able to do that since 2001
01/22/2022 10:06 am
Hamburger SV was without a win in the city derby five times in a row, the waiting time since the last home win is more than two decades. But now the second division team is not only benefiting from a weakness in FC St. Pauli, but also the return of the man who will ultimately become a derby hero.
“Derby winner, derby winner”, echoed through the sparsely filled Volksparkstadion after the climax of a dream week, the players danced on the lawn, and even the long-suffering Hamburger SV fans suddenly couldn’t stop celebrating. For the first time in almost three years, the Rothosen won the city championship against St. Pauli, shortened the 2:1 (0:1) in the promotion race and almost bursting with pride.
“This is our home. We made a clear statement that this game is only ours,” said HSV captain Sebastian Schonlau. Three days after reaching the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup at 1. FC Köln (4:3 on penalties), the defense chief equalized (58′) after Guido Burgstaller (30′) had guided the visitors. Bakery Jatta (70th) became a derby hero in the first starting eleven after his corona infection.
The last success over the unloved rival was a long time ago, in spring 2019 HSV conquered the Millerntor (4-0) and then disappointed in a row. There were four bankruptcies and a draw, now the negative run is over. In addition, the 107th city derby achieved the first home win in over 20 years. At the end of 2001, HSV had won 4:3. “It’s nice that we were rewarded and, above all, we were able to give something back to the fans,” said Schonlau, who knows the sobering statistics. But something has changed, the “new” HSV is fun, the team are no longer knocked down by setbacks – unlike in the past.
St. Pauli has an away problem
Although they “got into the game well,” said coach Tim Walter, “they weren’t rewarded for that. The goal then came a bit unexpectedly. Nevertheless, we only shook each other briefly.” After the break, his team turned the game, the outstanding Sonny Kittel prepared both goals. Jatta ensured victory in front of 2000 spectators, 200 guest fans were also there, with a powerful shot into the far corner.
And St. Pauli? Turned out to be a good loser. “We have to congratulate HSV on the overall well-deserved victory,” said coach Timo Schultz. “We didn’t have enough control. It was only after falling behind that we really put our hearts into it.” The Kiezkicker have not won four times in a row and can lose the lead in the 2nd Bundesliga to Darmstadt 98 this Saturday. Much worse: The lead over HSV shrank to three points. If Pauli had won the derby, the six-time champion would hardly have got past.
The defeat in the Volksparkstadion is also an expression of the problems that are also evident in the table. Because St. Pauli is still on the way up, but away from home it is at best second division mediocrity. At home, the record is outstanding with eight wins and one draw and the best value of 25 points, while away there have been only three wins in eleven attempts and only twelve points. In the end, at HSV they looked less at the numbers and were happy that their city rivals didn’t manage to turn the tide in this game of all things.
“Winning a derby is always something special and releases new energy,” said Schonlau, looking ahead, even if it won’t continue for another two weeks. Jonas Meffert only made the scenery a bit sad. “It’s a shame that not all fans could be there, then it would have been an unbelievable evening. But even so, it was a really great experience.”