Marcel Hartel announces his departure from St. Pauli is now another big deal for the team….
Although Die Kiezkicker have been top of the table for much of this season, it has taken them a while to really get going.
The final match took place on matchday 6 when they welcomed high-flying Kiel to Millerntor.
Pauli had drawn their previous four games, including three 0-0, since their opening win at the weekend and weren’t really looking for promotion contenders until they knocked out Holstein.
Two digs from Connor Metcalfe and Eric Smith put the hosts ahead within seven minutes before Oladapo Afolayan made it 3-0 before the break with Pauli’s third effort of the day.
Lewis Holtby pulled back slightly after the restart, but Fabian Hürzeler’s men made two more long-range efforts through Lars Ritzka and Marcel Hartel to claim their biggest overall win of the season and start their promotion campaign.
Three more wins and a draw took Pauli into first place when they hosted Karlsruhe at the end of October.
Their unbeaten start looked to be coming to an end when former Kiezicker striker Igor Matanović counter-attacked.
play by the away team.
A fine strike from Johannes Eggestein equalized in the 10th minute at Millerntor before substitute Philipp Treu converted a corner in injury time to claim all three points and give Pauli the lead first, after Fortuna Düsseldorf had moved into pole position with 11 games to go.
Going into day 20, Pauli now leads second-placed Greuther by four points after Colverleaves went on a nine-match unbeaten run.
That record includes seven wins, including a 2-0 victory over Kiel last week.
Pauli has set the trap, seemingly wanting to put a serious stamp on his closest rival.
Two goals in three minutes put them 2-0 up through Elias Saad and Afolayan and the result looked like a formality.
That was until Armando Sieb and Simon Asta scored to make it 2-2.
It seemed likely that both sides would be satisfied with the division of the spoils, but Pauli was not denied; Saad emerged with the winner after nine minutes.
A week after beating Fürth, Pauli suffered their first defeat of the campaign against Magdeburg, but before traveling to second-placed Kiel, they bounced back with a narrow 1-0 win over Eintracht Braunschweig.
A defeat to Kiel could have left the two opponents level on points, but Pauli took advantage of the opportunity.
But once again, they almost lost a big early advantage.
This time they led 3-0 at half-time when Hartel’s effort was blocked by Afolayan’s early brace.
Shuto Machino scored on the counter-attack in the 53rd minute before Metcalfe restored their three-goal lead.
It should have been, but Kiel added two more at the end for a tense ending, leaving Kiel barely alive.
Pauli’s reward was to give the home team a six-point lead.
Before the 30th, Pauli’s supporters will be very worried.
After watching his team decline after so many previous campaigns, it seemed like old habits were resurfacing.
Indeed, they had lost both of their previous matches, which saw a five-point advantage over Kiel on matchday 27 become a one-point gap as they lost top spot.
Additionally, their 11-point gap over third-placed Fortuna Düsseldorf was reduced to just five.
Afolayan eased his initial nerves once again with his seventh goal of the victory.
translation, but Lars Gindorf’s shot was in the far corner
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