Dhe SV Darmstadt 98 didn’t let FC St. Pauli stop them either, but they have to worry about their lead in the 2nd Bundesliga. The Hessians drew 1-1 (0-0) in Hamburg on Saturday evening and have been unbeaten in 13 league games. Frank Ronstadt (60th) put Darmstadt in the lead. Lukas Daschner equalized nine minutes later. FC St. Pauli thus defended its positive series at home. Hamburg suffered their last defeat at the Millerntor last season on April 23 – against Darmstadt 98.
Due to the draw, Darmstadt must fear losing first place on Sunday. Should SC Paderborn win the chasing duel against Hamburger SV, Ostwestfalen would overtake. FC St. Pauli is stuck in 13th place in the lower middle of the table.
Both teams didn’t wait long in front of 29,562 spectators in the sold-out Millerntor Stadium and started offensively. Darmstadt coach Torsten Lieberknecht surprised by sending central defender Patric Pfeiffer up front in the first few minutes. Later, Pfeiffer was called back to his role as central defender against the increasingly dangerous Hanseatic League. The guests still had the best chance in the early stages – albeit through a man from Hamburg: Betim Faziji (8th) involuntarily hit the crossbar of the St. Pauli goal with his head.
After that, almost only the hosts played forward. The Hamburg team kept creating opportunities before the break: Jackson Irvine (39′) had the best opportunity, and he was denied by the strong Darmstadt goalkeeper Marcel Schuhen.
After the break, the leader of the standings from Hesse remembered his offensive qualities. As Hamburg started to take control again, Ronstadt (60′) scored with a nice shot after a great solo. St. Pauli coach Timo Schultz reacted, bringing in Johannes Eggestein for Afeez Aremu, among others. The change paid off just a minute later when Daschner (69′) used Eggestein’s pass to equalise.
