HSV pursuers form up
St. Pauli makes Darmstadt’s promotion party burst with goals
05/06/2023 10:27 p.m
Darmstadt 98 can hardly be denied promotion to the Bundesliga. But on the 31st match day of the 2nd Bundesliga there is no celebration: the table leaders lose against FC St. Pauli. For their part, the Hamburgers can still hope for a return to the upper house.
SV Darmstadt 98 has to wait at least another week for the promotion party. The leaders of the 2nd Bundesliga lost 3-0 (1-0) to FC St. Pauli and thus missed their first chance to return early to the Bundesliga. With 64 points, the Hessians are still leading the table and can complete the fourth promotion in the club’s history after 1978, 1981 and 2015 next Sunday at Hannover 96.
In front of 17,650 spectators in the sold-out Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor, an own goal by Phillip Tietz (45th minute) and goals by Elias Saad (57th) and David Otto (85th) sealed the Lilien’s first home defeat of the season. Thanks to the victory, St. Pauli is fourth in the table with 53 points and is only four points behind city rivals Hamburger SV, who are currently in the relegation zone.
In a balanced first half, the hosts offensively set the first accents. Fabian Schnellhardt failed early on with a shot from 16 meters to guest goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj. After that, little happened in front of both goals. Shortly before the half-time whistle, a Tietz own goal following a free kick caused the first setback for the southern Hesse team. Things got even worse for the home side after the break. Saad extended the visitors’ lead from close range after Darmstadt goalkeeper Marcel Schuhen was only able to deflect a shot from Leart Pacarada.
Darmstadt then tried desperately to get close again. However, a goal by Tietz (59th) was denied recognition due to a previous offside position by assist provider Mathias Honsak. Overall, coach Torsten Lieberknecht’s team lacked the usual determination.