Ten-man St. Pauli beat Heidenheim with a Kraas brace | OneFootball

Both teams came into this crucial fixture with positive records in recent encounters. While Heidenheim won back-to-back league games, St. Pauli booked a place in the DFB-Pokal quarter-finals before ending an eight-game Bundesliga losing streak.

Marvin Pieringer had the game’s first chance, but the hosts dominated the play after that. They finally got their reward with Martijn Kaars’ first Bundesliga goal. The Dutch striker beat Diant Ramaj with a powerful strike from Joel Chima Fujita’s assist.

However, they faced a huge setback with Eric Smith sent off for a professional foul as a last man. The experienced center-back could’ve easily cleared the ball before the lively Pieringer got ahead of him to block a backpass.

Alexander Blessin introduced center-back Adam Dzwigala for the second-half, while Heidenheim made two attacking substitutions. Despite playing with ten, St. Pauli extended with a second Bundesliga goal for Kraas.

The visitors were back at it when Pieringer combined with substitute Stefan Schimmer to score his first goal of the season. Heidenheim made it difficult for St. Pauli in the final twenty minutes with lots of crosses into the box, but the hosts held on to record their first win since mid-September.

Heidenheim will be involved in the final Bundesliga game of 2025 when they host Bayern at Voith-Arena. St. Pauli will be involved in another six-pointer against fellow strugglers Mainz.