Bundesliga: “Extremely shitty”: St. Pauli struggles, Bochum celebrates victory

Coach Dieter Hecking showed the double winner’s fist, the Bochum players fell into each other’s arms with relief: VfL Bochum celebrated its second win of the season in the Bundesliga thanks to a 1-0 (0-0) home win against FC St. Pauli gained new courage in the relegation battle.

Above all, the winning goal scorer Philipp Hofmann (67th minute) was in a good mood: “Scoring a goal is always nice, but today there was a lot of pressure on the ball,” said the striker. “Compliments to the boys.” Assist provider Moritz Broschinski said: “I think games like this definitely suit us.”

Blessin: “We were harmless then”

Meanwhile, there was sadness in the Hamburg camp. The defeat felt “extremely shitty,” admitted guest player Philipp Treu. St. Pauli coach Alexander Blessin summarized his team’s offensive performance: “We were harmless.”

In addition, the guests also provided the negative highlight in front of 26,000 spectators in the sold-out Bochum stadium: Adam Dzwigala (90th + 4) saw the red card for a serious foul on Dani de Wit, according to video evidence.

VfL is still bottom of the table with nine points, but is now putting pressure on the competition ahead of them – including FC St. Pauli. The Hamburgers missed out on getting some extra breathing room. They have five points more than the Revierclub.

Bochum can also hope that the DFB sports court’s ruling on the game at Union Berlin will stand and that VfL will receive two additional points.

“We don’t need to downplay the importance of the game,” Hecking said on Sky shortly before the game. His team went into the game with corresponding commitment. Bochum’s will to win was clearly noticeable. However, it quickly became clear how limited VfL’s resources are in the game. A long-range shot from Maximilian Wittek in the 2nd minute was the only finish the Bochum fans saw from their team for a long time.

St. Pauli initially limited themselves mainly to defense. The Hamburg team tried to switch quickly after winning the ball. However, that didn’t really work. It was clear to see that the two most offensively harmless teams in the league met.

Holtmann misses the great opportunity to take the lead

It wasn’t until half an hour later that things became really dangerous for the first time in the foggy Ruhr Stadium. Gerrit Holtmann got ahead of Hauke ​​Wahl, moved into the penalty area from half-right, but pushed the ball just past the goal.

Despite the poor performance on the pitch, both fan camps cheered on their teams tirelessly. Many fans held up their cell phone lights and lighters to the halftime song “Don’t Stop Believin'” by Journey. Don’t lose faith – this motto also applied to VfL.

Hofmann redeems the Bochum fans

However, the guests had the first chance after the restart: Oladapo Afolayan crossed to Jackson Irvine, but the captain headed over the goal. Hofmann did better on the other side. The center forward jumped with full physical effort into a cross from Moritz Broschinski, who had just been substituted, and pushed the ball over the line with his heel.

St. Pauli now tried to switch to attacking football. However, the guests were hardly able to assert themselves on the offensive. This is how Bochum managed to maintain a narrow lead over time – and in the end they still had the majority.