When Michael Gregoritsch made it 2-1 to SCF in the 119th minute, this most likely came as a huge relief for the Freiburg fans who had sat through a nerve-wracking cup tie. But more on that later. 

Seven chances were made to the team that lost 5-0 to FC Bayern München. Daniel-Kofi Kyereh, who had recently been sidelined with a muscular issue, at least made the matchday squad for the cup tie against his former club. Noah Atubolu started between the sticks in what was his professional debut, and the 20-year-old had to be alert just four minutes in as St. Pauli had their first attempt on goal, but Etienne Amenyido’s shot was too high to force the young debutant into action.  

It took the outfield players a while to grow into the game. “If we go there simply to defend, then we’ll run into some problems. We need to keep them busy and control their individual quality,” said St. Pauli head coach Timo Schultz in the build-up to the game. His team consistently kept SCF’s creative players like Ritsu Doan far away from their goal in the early phases of the game, and it wasn’t until the half-hour mark before captain Christian Günter tested St. Pauli keeper Nikola Vasilj with a powerful long-range effort from twenty metres out. 

Atubolu thwarts St. Pauli’s big chance 

The Freiburg support’s hearts stopped for a second as St. Pauli suddenly found themselves two-on-one heading towards SCF’s goal and Lukas Daschner squared it two the free-standing Etienne Amenyido, who was perfectly placed in the six-yard area. It was only for Noah Atubolu’s extraordinary save that denied a certain goal, and the SCF fans showed their appreciation for the stop.  

“It was a difficult start to the game. Without accusing anyone, the goal that we then conceded was an absolute gift,” Christian Streich gave his thoughts on what was a tough first 45 minutes for SCF. Despite Atubolu’s terrific first-half performance, he was helpless against the ‘gift’ presented to the visitors. Last man Keven Schlotterbeck was robbed of possession by Lukas Daschner, and the St. Pauli attacker subsequently chipped the ball over Atubolu and into the net for 1-0. The away side, who had Maximilian Eggestein’s brother Johannes on the bench, went into the break with the lead. 

Four changes at the break 

It was more than obvious that the SCF coaching staff were anything but satisfied with the first half and made four substitutions at half time. Philippp Lienhart, Niclas Höfler, Daniel Kofi-Kyereh and Michael Gregoritsch came on for Keven Schlotterbeck, Maximilian Eggestein, Wooyeong Jeong and Nils Petersen. 

SC began the second half well, but they didn’t get too close to St. Pauli’s goal, such as Ritsu Doan’s deflected effort (46’) or Michael Gregoritsch’s header (51’). At the other end of the pitch, the guests from Hamburg sought a second goal. In the 55th minute, Etienne Amenyido had another golden chance to make it to 2-0 thanks to some brilliant play from Jackson Irvine, but he didn’t get solid enough contact on the ball from short range to double his side’s advantage. 

Constantly cheered on by the home crowd, SC got closer and closer to an equaliser. Noah Weißhaupt charged down the right wing in the 71st minute, and his cutback from the by-line, which was deflected by Eric Smith, went inches wide of the goal. 

“We raised the tempo with each passing minute,” said SC head coach Christian Streich after the game. “Matthias Ginter was exemplary at the end. Despite barely being able to run any further, he dug in for the good of the team.” 

Ginter saves his side at the death 

A heated end to the game saw several verbal and physical confrontations between the players, as those among the 33,500 fans in attendance who supported Freiburg became more and more nervous. The majority of the five minutes of second-half stoppage time had already passed when Yannik Keitel picked out Matthias Ginter at the far post with a cross, and the defender headed in the leveller (90’+3). Philipp Lienhart could even have scored a late, late winner from a corner, but his shot struck Michael Gregoritsch on the goal line (90’+4). Just like in the first round against Kaiserslautern, SCF were set for extra time against the second-division side.  

Initially, there were few chances in extra time, and it wasn’t until a set piece before Freiburg found some sort of a breakthrough against St. Pauli’s defensive wall. Vincenzo Grifo clipped the ball into the pox, attempting to pick up Michael Gregoritsch, whose clever ball across the face of goal wasn’t able to find any takers (103’). 

Gregoritsch scores the golden goal 

In the second half of extra time, Noah Atubolu did well to keep out a powerful long-range attempt from Marcel Hartel (110’). At the other end, Nikola Vasilj had to get across to tip Yannik Keitel’s cross-cum-shot over the bar (118’). The structural integrity of the roof of the Europa-Park Stadion was then tested from the resulting corner. Grifo’s cross, Gregoritsch’s header – deafening joy. 

Streich summarised the battle his side went through which had a happy ending: “It was a great game between two teams who gave their all. In the end, St. Pauli were the more unfortunate.” SCF’s next game is at home to SV Werder Bremen on Saturday (15:30 CEST), who were eliminated from the DFB-Pokal by SC Paderborn on penalties.  

Photos: Achim Keller