3-3 away to St. Pauli – BVB throw away 3-1 lead after Mane's dismissal | OneFootball

It was only after a good 20 minutes that BVB began to find footballing solutions in front of the 29,546 spectators at a sold-out Stadion am Millerntor, taking a deserved lead through Guirassy 10 minutes before the break. The goalscorer missed the chance to double the lead from the spot four minutes later. St. Pauli's keeper Vasilj also kept out Brandt's placed shot two minutes after the restart. After Hountondji made it 1-1 in the 50th minute, the Black & Yellows were under pressure. Anton (67) and Brandt (74) scored to put them 3-1 ahead. But the game was to take another turn: Mane was sent off, before Sinani scored from the spot to make it 3-2 on 86 minutes and Smith equalised at 3-3 three minutes later.

The scenario:   It was fourth from last season against the 14th-placed team, who had been waiting for a Bundesliga win against BVB since 1989.

Personnel matters:   Can (adductor problems), Schlotterbeck (fitness training after torn meniscus), Süle (muscle injury) and Duranville (shoulder injury) were not available. Ryerson was back in the squad but not yet fit enough to play 90 minutes. There were two changes compared to the cup tie in Essen: Adeyemi and Bellingham replaced Beier and Nmecha (both substitutes). But Couto was able to play despite the injury he sustained in that game.

Karim Adeyemi liegt in einem umkämpften Spiel am Millerntor am Boden.

Tactics:   St. Pauli defended deep in a 5-4-1 formation and relied on a robust approach and tough tackling in the middle of the park – both in central defence and in front of it – as well as quick transitions upon regaining possession of the ball. Borussia's 3-5-2 system with a defensive midfielder (Sabitzer) shifted to a 3-4-3 formation when they had possession, with Couto, Guirassy and Adeyemi the front three.

The match & analysis:BVB enjoyed significantly more possession than their opponents on the confetti-strewn pitch, but only had the ball at their feet in the penalty area once in the first 15 minutes. Instead, it was St. Pauli's Hountondji who went clean through in the 18th minute after Anton had made a judgement error, but Kobel kept his team on level terms. It was not until the 24th minute that Guirassy registered the first Dortmund shot at goal for the Black & Yellows from a narrow angle. Shortly afterwards, Groß had a big opportunity but failed to get the better of goalkeeper Vasilj from close range (25). Adeyemi had done brilliantly in the build-up, flicking Guirassy's cross onwards on the edge of the six-yard box.

Couto, Mane, Groß und Anton jubeln mit Flankengeber Sabitzer und Torschütze Guirassy (beide verdeckt).

It had been a disjointed first half up until that point with many simple possession giveaways on both sides. Borussia's one-dimensional pressing hardly troubled the opposition, with both tempo and depth in short supply. But a delicate cross by Sabitzer brought about what was a surprising opener at that point in time: he received a backwards pass on the left flank and crossed perfectly into the box, where Guirassy won the aerial battle on the edge of the six-yard box and headed home under pressure to make it 1-0 (35). Two minutes later, Guirassy initiated the next big chance by playing a precise pass over to Adeyemi on the left flank. He cut inside and was felled by Smith in the box. Guirassy stepped up to take the penalty but his shot towards the left corner was saved by Vasilj.

Nmecha and Brandt came on in place of Adeyemi and Bellingham at the half-time interval. And Brandt had the opportunity to up the lead to 2-0 barely two minutes after entering the fray. After being teed up by Svensson, he got a shot away from 16 metres but Vasilj turned his precise effort behind for a corner. Within a matter of seconds, it was 1-1. Svensson lost his footing and slipped over, Sinani crossed into the middle and Hountondji got the better of Mane in the aerial battle, nodding the ball over the line to restore parity (50).

Ein Aufbaupass von Ramy Bensebaini im Bundesligaspiel beim FC St. Pauli.

Thanks to their hard-running approach, St. Pauli subsequently plugged many gaps while making clear inroads themselves, especially – like in the first half – down the right flank. But a dead ball put BVB back in front. After Couto's free-kick cross from the right, which initially fell to Groß, Svensson played the ball into the middle from the left and Nmecha deflected it on to Anton, whose shot from the left of the box took a deflection off a Hamburg defender and nestled in the far corner to make it 2-1. The powerless Vasilj was caught by surprise (67). Seven minutes later, Groß played a brilliant ball from his own half into the opposition penalty area. Brandt controlled the ball with technical brilliance and – in one fluid motion – spectacularly fired a hard and well-placed shot into the far corner for 3-1 (74).

But things would become tense again. Sinani failed to beat Kobel from a tight angle at the same time as Mane and Ceesay were involved in a tussle. After a long VAR check, Mane was shown a red card and St. Pauli were awarded a penalty which Sinani slotted home for 3-2 in the 86th minute. And there was more to come: Smith fired the ball into the left corner from range in the 89th minute. There were 10 minutes of stoppage time but Borussia looked dejected and no longer able to control the ball.

Outlook:BVB will play host to 1. FC Union Berlin in their first home game of the season next Sunday (kick-off at 17:30 CEST).

Boris Rupert

Teams & goals

FC St. Pauli: Vasilj – Wahl, Smith, Dzwigala (Metcalfe, 77) – Pyrka (Saliakas, 77), Sands (Afolayan, 87), Fujita, Oppie – Sinani – Hountondji (Ceesay, 68), Pereira LageBor. Dortmund: Kobel – Mane, Anton, Bensebaini – Couto, Sabitzer, Svensson – Groß (Özcan, 87), Bellingham (Nmecha, 46) – Guirassy, Adeyemi (Brandt, 46)Substitutes: Voll, Ritzka, Robatsch, Ahlstrand, Banks – Meyer, Beier, Ryerson, Campbell, Kabar, Lührs Goals: 0-1 Guirassy (Sabitzer, 35), 1-1 Hountondji (Sinani, 50), 1-2 Anton (Nmecha, 67), 1-3 Brandt (Groß, 74), 2-3 Sinani (pen. for foul on Ceesay by Mane, 86), 3-3 Smith (Saliakas, 89)Corners: 6-2 (5-0 at half-time), chance count: 5-6 (1-3)Referee: Jöllenbeck (Freiburg), red card: Mane (foul play, 85), yellow cards: Dzwigala, Smith – Bensebaini, Couto, SabitzerAttendance: 29,546 (sold-out), weather: partially sunny, dry, 17 degrees