After 18 penalties and thanks to Voll: St. Pauli eliminates Hoffenheim
After five consecutive defeats, FC St. Pauli won its second-round match against Hoffenheim on penalties thanks to goalkeeper Voll. The previous 120 minutes at the Millerntor weren't at their best, but they offered suspense right up to the final seconds.
St. Pauli celebrated penalty hero Voll (center) – and their place in the round of 16. IMAGO/Lobeca
As announced early on by St. Pauli coach Alexander Blessin , substitute goalkeeper Voll took over for Vasilj, who had looked poor in the first goal conceded in the 2-0 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt and was due to be given a break in the cup. Saliakas, Sinani, Pereira Lage, and Kaars also sat out. Pyrka, Sands, Metcalfe, and Afolayan replaced them.
Hoffenheim's Christian Ilzer made only two substitutions after the 3-1 win against Heidenheim : Coufal was temporarily sidelined with a knee problem, and Burger initially sat on the bench. Prass and Prömel started instead.
Wahl gives St. Pauli an early leadBut after less than a minute, the Kraichgau team was already behind: After Fujita won a corner with the first shot just seconds later, St. Pauli took advantage. Wahl was in the right place at the far post and fired the ball over the line (1'). After a short effort, Lemperle had the first chance for the visitors with a header (8'), and Asllani also tried a shot from a corner (11').
TSG then attempted to advance, but repeatedly fell foul of the hosts' defense, who in turn were dangerous on the counterattack: Metcalfe (14th, 33rd) and Oppie (24th) had shots on goal, and the Kiezkickers also repeatedly appeared deep in the opposing half. The visitors' attack, however, faltered considerably: Prömel tried twice, but failed (19th, 38th). Consequently, after a heated final phase of the first period, they went into the break with a 1-0 lead.
Prömel with the quick equalizerAfter the break, the equalizer came quickly, as did St. Pauli's lead following a corner: Prömel was untroubled by Kramaric's cross and headed in to make it 1-1 (47'). After that, the two teams neutralized each other in midfield, with Hoffenheim having more of the game but unable to find any gaps in the Kiezkickers' defense. Lemperle then had another chance after a short corner (65'), but otherwise, both teams remained harmless.
Until the final stages: St. Pauli looked to launch a final offensive through substitutes Pereira Lage and Ceesay. After a combined effort from the two, Hoffenheim's Baumann seemed to have been overcome, but Bernardo saved TSG with an artistic kung fu move on the line (85th minute). But the visitors also had a great opportunity through substitute Bebou: After a goal kick extended by Touré, the striker found himself unmarked in front of Voll, tried to round him but failed (89th minute). Consequently, the game went into extra time.
TSG were initially lucky when Kabak's back pass to Baumann was too short (93'), but on the other side TSG had the first chance: substitute Burger was completely unmarked after a Prass cross and hit the crossbar with his left foot (98').
Shortly after the restart for the second half of extra time, referee Daniel Schlager pointed to the penalty spot: Sands had been swatted at the ball by a Touré cross from close range – a blatant error of judgment. Kramaric didn't take long to respond and made it 2-1 (107'). St. Pauli continued to attack without success, while Hoffenheim were defensively solid. In stoppage time, however, the Kiezkickers were awarded another corner. The visitors failed to clear it, and Pereira Lage thanked them with a low shot (122') – meaning the penalty shootout was over!
18 Penalty: Voll becomes a cup heroBut it took a total of 18 penalties to decide the game. After Kramaric's weak attempt on Hoffenheim's first penalty was saved by Voll, and Pereira Lage also missed for FCSP against Baumann, ten consecutive penalty kicks were scored, even though Baumann, in particular, had several touches to the ball. Ultimately, Hajdari lost his nerve, and Voll made the save, becoming St. Pauli's cup hero.
With the 8:7 win on penalties, the Kiezkickers end their five competitive match winless streak and are in the round of 16 - TSG is eliminated.
St. Pauli's Bundesliga campaign continues on Saturday (3:30 p.m.) against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Hoffenheim visits VfL Wolfsburg the following day (5:30 p.m.).
