Important man for BVB: Ramy Bensebaini (r.) in a duel with Oladapo Afolayan from FC St. Pauli.
Source: dpa
St. Pauli leaves the initiative to BVB
St. Pauli staggered very deeply and left the initiative to Borussia. That almost came to light early on when Serhou Guirassy finished from a good position after a fine pass from Julian Brandt, but was denied by Nikola Vasilj in the Hamburg box (6th).
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As a result, BVB acted sluggishly, almost statically. Dortmund’s tempo was so low that St. Pauli was able to regroup defensively even in the rare cases in which the team attacked further up and was outplayed. The newcomers used their own attacks very carefully: During a counterattack, Oladapo Afolayan’s shot was just blocked by Ramy Bensebaini (16th).
Guilavogui is just offside
As a result, St. Pauli acted a little more courageously and was almost rewarded for it: Morgan Guilavogui slid a free-kick cross from Eric Smith into the goal – but was just offside (30th).
The near deficit apparently led Borussia to realize that they had to invest more again. Bensebaini headed a cross from Pascal Groß’s halffield perfectly into the far corner – making it 1-0 for BVB (43′). Just a little later, Brandt almost scored the second goal, but he clearly missed the goal from five meters.
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After the break, St. Pauli attacked higher and earlier. However, Dortmund rarely knew how to use the resulting space and lacked precision in their passing game.
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Every now and then it became dangerous: Brandt failed with a long shot past Vasilj (59′), and Guirassy also couldn’t get past the promoted goalkeeper (64′). A cross from Jamie Gittens, who came on for Groß, was too sharp for Guirassy and Donyell Malen (65′).
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However, Dortmund’s ball movement dominated the picture for long stretches. The game seemed to be heading towards an unspectacular end when Smith plucked up the courage and shot from around 25 meters – with success. Referee Matthias Jöllenbeck awarded the goal to make it 1-1, although Dortmund had some justification for claiming an offside position: Afolayan was clearly in the field of vision of BVB keeper Gregor Kobel (78′).
Guirassy strikes back
But Dortmund wasn’t shocked in the least: with the next attack, Borussia took the lead again. Gittens crossed from the left, Guirassy’s header was both impressive and demanding (83′). Adam Dzwigala still had an excellent chance to equalize for St. Pauli, but he put the ball well over the goal from six meters.
In the end there was a narrow Dortmund victory, which the team deserved, especially after the break. However, the team will have to improve significantly for the upcoming tasks, otherwise things could get uncomfortable for Sahin early on.
