Goal fest against FC St. Pauli ends in a draw

Match report from the friendly against FC St. Pauli

David Kownacki on the ball.
Werder were put under constant pressure by St. Pauli (Photo: W.DE).
Match Report
Thursday, 12.10.2023 / 14:49

SV Werder Bremen’s action-packed friendly against FC St. Pauli during the international break ended in a 3-3 draw. Justin Njinmah opened the scoring for the Green-Whites’ shortly after kick-off (3’), which was followed by an equaliser from Marcel Hartel not long after (12’). The visitors’ second came just after the break through Elias Saad (50’), but SVW reacted well to going behind, as Jens Stage (54’) and Dawid Kownacki (58’) both found the back of the net in the space of four minutes. Saad scored his second for the visitors (65’), meaning the fixture ended in a deserved draw. SV Werder had more chances in the first half, but St. Pauli were the stronger side after the break.

Line-up and formation: Head coach Ole Werner was unable to put out his usual squad, as a number of the key players are currently involved in the ongoing international break. His starting line-up did, however, still consist of ten first-team regulars, who were joined by Cimo Röcker from the U23s.

Starting XI: Zetterer - Jung, Stage, Ducksch, Weiser, Kownacki, Bittencourt, Lynen, Njinmah, Agu and Röcker.

Bench: Käuper – Asante, Kasper, Polat, Schwarz, and Imasuen.

An even 45: Hartel responds to Njinmah’s opener

First-half highlights:

3rd minute: Marvin Ducksch’s corner is flicked on by Jens Stage to an unmarked Justin Njinmah, who volleys the ball into the back of the net just below the crossbar – 1-0 to the Green-Whites.

12th minute: Lynen slips over and proceeds to slide tackle Hartel in the penalty box, causing the referee to point to the spot. St. Pauli’s number 10 steps up and calmly slots the ball away – 1-1.

16th minute: A short corner from the visitors is cleared by the Green-Whites and falls to Treu outside the area, who hits the ball first time, but his shot goes wide.

26th minute: Amenyido loses possession on the halfway line, and Weiser is able to play in Njinmah to his right, whose effort is denied by the foot of Burchert.

43rd minute: Njinmah outpaces Dzwigala and whips a ball in across goal, which is flicked on by the heel of Jens Stage and punched away from Agu by St. Pauli keeper Burchert.

All square after an action-packed second half

Second-half highlights:

50th minute: St. Pauli flip the game on its head! Saad dribbles into the box from the left-hand side and fires the ball into the far corner to make it 2-1.

54th minute: A quick response from Werder! Stage leaps highest to meet Ducksch’s corner and nods it home – 2-2.

57th minute: Kownacki heads Ducksch’s volley into the path of Agu. The full-back is then tripped by Nemeth and the referee points to the spot. Kownacki steps up to take it and coolly converts – 3-2 to Werder.

64th minute: Chances for Werder! Agu almost scores after the ball is blocked, before Burchert is unable to follow up Bittencourt’s effort, which was saved by the goalkeeper.

65th minute: Saad shows off his dribbling ability again and cuts inside. His deflected effort creeps in at the near post and the game is level for the fourth time – 3-3.

70th minute: St. Pauli break away on the counter. Saad crosses it into Eggestein, who lets fly. Zetterer gets a hand to it and gathers the ball on the second attempt.

79th minute: Saad whips the ball in to Maurides who is lurking in the box, but he doesn’t get enough power on the header.

90th minute +1: Full time. The friendly ends in a draw.

Summary: Both sides looked inconsistent over the course of a frantic game. St. Pauli put the Green-Whites under pressure early, but Werder were able to bypass the opposition press well in the first half. Both sides started the second half with intent, but couldn’t be separated as the match ended in a 3-3 draw.

Head coach Ole Werner: “We played well as a team when you consider that many of the boys weren’t in their regular positions. We defended well as a whole and, other than in the second half, kept things tight from open play. I’m happy with our performance in possession, because we used the space on the pitch well and got into good positions. All in all, it was a good opportunity and test for the boys to play in a competitive environment.”

Match information

Goals: 1-0 Njinmah (3'), 1-1 Hartel (12', pen), 1-2 (50') Saad, 2-2 Stage (54'), 3-2 Kownacki (58', pen), 3-3 Saad (65').

Referee: Christoph Kluge

Spectators: Behind closed doors

 
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