St. Pauli saves itself with a late goal to draw against Leipzig

The relegation-threatened Bundesliga club FC St. Pauli put a damper on top club RB Leipzig in the race for the Champions League places. The Hamburg side drew 1-1 (0-0) thanks to Martijn Kaars' late penalty in the third minute of stoppage time. Although the Saxons ended their scoreless streak at the Millerntor Stadium, they were still without a win in their fourth appearance at the Hanseatic club.

Star player Yan Diomande gave RB the lead in the 66th minute with his remarkable goal in front of 29,147 spectators, thus ensuring Leipzig's first goal at the Millerntor in the fourth game. However, the relegation-threatened club from Hamburg, who were a match for their opponents for long stretches, came back late on and deserved the point.

Schlager hits the post

Early in the game, Leipzig's scoreless run almost became history. Xaver Schlager (8th) shot from just under 20 meters. His shot hit the post and caused the first excitement in the stands.

Before the match, fans had already raised their voices loudly against fascism to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day. Banners with the slogan "No forgiveness, no forgetting" were held up in the stands. The players of both teams also held up a banner.

The match was originally scheduled to take place two and a half weeks ago. However, the heavy winter weather put a spanner in the works and the match was canceled at short notice.

St. Pauli better in the game

Now snow did not interfere. And the low temperatures were not noticeable either, as both teams played resolutely forward. The hosts in particular made clever use of their planned switching actions, with Rocky-Jade Jones twice running free towards the Leipzig goal, but on the second attempt (23') in particular, he bent the ball wide.

St. Pauli's speedy Englishman was also involved in the next good move (38'), but he hesitated too long and overlooked his better-positioned teammate Joel Chima Fujita. It would have been offside anyway. The speedy player often seemed to be one step too late with his attempts. The actions were symptomatic of Hamburg's poor finishing this season.

Better performance than in the derby

Leipzig had their own approaches to goal, but did not look good at times due to a number of ball losses and lots of space for the Hanseatic side. Antonio Nusa first failed to beat goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj from a promising position shortly before the half-time whistle, then Romulo put a shot from an acute angle just wide of the goal.

In the second half, it remained an entertaining goalless game. Quite the opposite of Hamburg's bland and weak performance in the derby against HSV. However, both teams were too imprecise when it got serious in front of goal.

Kaars scores from the spot

It was the powerful shot from attacker Diomande on the edge of the penalty area that got Leipzig celebrating. The ball rocketed into the left-hand corner.

But it wasn't the end of the game: In stoppage time, referee Florian Exner awarded a penalty after David Raum fouled Kaars. The substitute Dutchman stepped up to take the spot-kick himself and finished, sparking exuberant celebrations at the Millerntor.