First Team

Late setback at the Millerntor

Wolves suffer their first defeat of the season at FC St. Pauli.

VfL Wolfsburg were beaten 1-0 (0-0) away to FC St. Pauli on Saturday evening. In a contest that remained finely poised for long periods, the Wolves had an early chance to take the lead when Fabian Reese hit the crossbar, while the hosts also created opportunities of their own. St. Pauli increasingly stepped up the pressure after the break. In the 88th minute, Joel Chima Fujita settled the contest with a deflected long-range strike. The result brought the Green-and-Whites’ four-match unbeaten run in the league to an end.

Team news

St. Pauli made five changes to their starting line-up: Lars Ritzka, Joel Chima Fujita, Connor Metcalfe, Abdoulie Ceesay and Youssoupha Niang all came into the side. Taichi Hara and Martijn Kaars dropped to the bench, while Marcus Mathisen, Tomoya Ando and Branimir Hrgota were not included in the squad. VfL head coach Tobias Strobl made four changes from the 4-4 draw against Energie Cottbus: with Mathys Angely, Robert Glatzel and Elvis Rexhbecaj unavailable and Maximilian Arnold starting on the bench, Cleiton, Muhammed Damar, Mattias Svanberg and Kento Shiogai came into the starting XI.

Match summary

The game quickly sprang to life: after Ritzka was booked for a foul on Shiogai (4’), Fabian Reese curled a free-kick against the crossbar (5’). At the other end, Metcalfe tested VfL goalkeeper Jakub Zielinski from distance (10’) before Cleiton was shown an early yellow card on his debut (12’). Ceesay headed the resulting free-kick straight at Zielinski (13’). St. Pauli then stepped up the pressure (18’), but the Green-and-Whites remained a threat too: after a superb through-ball from Damar, Reese was initially denied by Pauli goalkeeper Voll before firing the rebound into the side-netting (20’). Ceesay also found only the side-netting after a mistake by Zielinski (27’), while Metcalfe fired over shortly afterwards (29’). The teams therefore went into the break goalless.

Fujita settles the contest

After the restart, Kilian Fischer narrowly missed the target with a low shot (54’). St. Pauli responded through Fujita (59’) before Metcalfe’s deflected long-range effort crashed against the crossbar (60’). Tobias Strobl reacted by introducing Bence Dardai and Jonas Adjetey for Damar and Cleiton (65’). Arnold and Yannick Gerhardt later replaced the injured Svanberg and Shiogai (74’). St. Pauli increased the pressure in the closing stages (80’). After Joakim Maehle was booked (85’), the decisive moment arrived: Ceesay won the ball from Adjetey, Fujita let fly from distance and his deflected effort found the net to make it 1-0 (88’). The Wolves were unable to find a response in stoppage time.

Goal

  • 1-0 Fujita (88’): Ceesay wins the ball from Adjetey and St. Pauli quickly break forward. Fujita shoots from distance from a position just left of centre outside the penalty area. Adjetey gets an unfortunate deflection on the effort, sending the ball into the VfL net.

Coaches' reactions

Tobias Strobl: Compared to last week, we wanted to have more control in possession, which is why we opted for a different shape. I thought we did a good job of finding space between the lines time and again. However, the final pass in behind wasn’t quite as we would have liked. As the game went on, it became more open because we gave the ball away too cheaply too often. In the second half, our opponents controlled the spaces between the lines better and were more compact. We didn’t find solutions as well after that and weren’t purposeful enough in our play. In the end, we made one mistake too many and our opponents took advantage of it. So Pauli didn’t exactly come away with an undeserved win.

Marcel Rapp: I thought we competed well in the challenges. Even so, there were a few situations in the first half where there was space between the lines and Wolfsburg used it well. We had two decent chances and so did our opponents, so it was an even game. We got a better grip on that in the second half and had good energy out on the pitch. Overall, though, it was a tight game. Wolfsburg certainly could have scored towards the end, but luck goes both ways. I think we left everything out on the pitch with the backing of our supporters. So, all things considered, I don’t think we were undeserving winners.

Line-ups and statistics

FC St. Pauli: Voll – Nemeth, Smith, Ritzka (67’ Dzwigala) – Pyrka, Rasmussen, Fujita, Oppie, Metcalfe (90+1’ Klein) – Ceesay (90+1’ Hara), Niang (70’ Kaars)

Substitutes: Mitov (GK), Westphal, Ahlstrand, Banks, Jones

VfL Wolfsburg: Zielinski – Fischer, Wahl, Cleiton (65’ Adjetey), Maehle – Souza, Damar (65’ Dardai), Svanberg (74’ Arnold), Bernhardsson (82’ Besio), Reese – Shiogai (74’ Gerhardt)

Substitutes: Pervan (GK), Zehnter, Hensel, Katz

Goal: 1-0 Fujita (88’)

Yellow cards: Ritzka, Ceesay / Cleiton, Maehle

Referee: Sören Storks (Velen)