Karlsruher SC and FC St. Pauli weren’t able to propel themselves away from the 2. Bundesliga danger zone after a 1-1 draw at a rainy Wildparkstadion.

St. Pauli had the better of an uneventful first half, with Aziz Bouhaddouz giving them the lead after Karlsruhe goalkeeper René Vollath was caught on the ball.

Karlsruhe had been poor but equalised after the break through Dimitrios Diamantakos, with neither side then able to turn one point into all three, and they both remain just a point clear of the bottom three.

Slow starts to the season

Karlsruhe have had a slow start to the season, drawing each of their first three games before the international break, with just one score draw amongst those, before losing 4-0 away at 1. FC Union Berlin last Saturday.

Tomas Oral, still looking for a first win since taking charge in the summer, made five changes from that side, with Martin Stoll, Dennis Kempe, Franck Kom, Charalampos Mavrias and Boubacar Barry all coming in.

After three defeats to start the season, St. Paui’s season finally got going last weekend with their first league victory against Arminia Bielefeld.

Ewald Lienen saw little need to change his side, with the only difference being enforced by the injury in that game to skipper Soren Gönther, with Lasse Sobiech coming back in his place.

Vollath caught out as St. Pauli strike

In terms of entertainment, the first half proved a miserable as the Baden-Württemberg weather, with neither side able to create more than a handful of chances, and an endless array of set pieces made little difference either.

St. Pauli were the better side, with Ryo Miyaichi having an overhead kick easily saved, although Waldemar Sobota did set up Christopher Buchtmann with a good chance, but by the time he reached the ball the angle was too tight and his attempt to centre it again went straight into the hands of Vollath.

For Karlsruhe, Moritz Stoppelkamp did at least hit the target with a free-kick, even if it presented an easy save for Robin Himmelmann, whilst Diamantakos had a short deflected into the side netting.

The only way either side was going to break the deadlock was with a moment of genius or a mistake, and sadly for Karlsruhe it was the latter. Bjarne Thoelke’s back pass to Vollath proved misjudged, as a poor first touch from the keeper gave Choi Kyoung-rok the chance to close him down, with his attempted clearance going straight off Choi, with Bouhaddouz pouncing to score into an empty net.

Unfortunately that wasn’t the trigger to bring Karlsruhe to life, with Stoppelkamp having one free-kick blocked and another sail off target the only incidents of note before the break.

Diamantakos ignites Karlsruhe

The second half begun in a similar pattern, with St. Pauli coming close to a second through first Bouhaddouz, and then Choi, who Vollath doing well to come out and block his attempt.

But then from nowhere, Karlsruhe equalised. Receiving cross from the right wing, and Diamantakos struck hard and low to beat Himmelmann to finally give the home fans something to cheer. It was just their third goal this season, and the Greek striker had them all.

Karlsruhe almost had a second soon after. A cross from Stoppelkamp was nearly turned into his own net by Sobiech, only just with the ball moving across goal, just staying out.

Despite both teams looking livelier, clear cut chances in the closing stages of the match of were still limited. Stoppelkamp had an excellent chance, with his shot only send wide by Sobiech’s out-stretched foot, whilst for St. Pauli Marvin Ducksch went over and Vegar Eggen Hedenstad’s free-kick just kept out by Vollath.

However despite both sides frantically chasing an equaliser in stoppage time, neither could find one, leaving them both stuck just ahead of the bottom three in the table, nervously looking over their shoulders.