FC St. Pauli 2-2 MSV Duisburg: Markus Kauczinski starts with a draw

FC St. Pauli started the reign of Markus Kauczinski with a frustrating 2-2 draw against MSV Duisburg.

Duisburg took the lead in the first half through Kevin Wolze from the spot, however Waldemar Sobota and Lasse Sobiech – with another penalty – put the resurgent hosts ahead in the second half.

After Aziz Bouhaddouz was sent off in strange circumstances though, Stanislav Iljutcenko levelled things up to earn the Zebras a point, but St. Pauli have now gone eight games without a win.

Wolze penalty caps first half of frustration for Kauczinski’s new side

After back-to-back heavy defeats, St. Pauli parted company with Olaf Janßen during the week, replacing him with Kauczinski. He made three changes for his first game in charge, albeit two enforced with Christopher Buchtmann and Mats Möller Daehli injured; Bernd Nehrig, Sami Allagui and Bouhaddouz came back in. Duisburg, with four wins in their last six, made just one change with Ahmet Engin coming in for Moritz Stoppelkamp.

Unlike the Bundesliga match in Cologne and the two other 2. Bundesliga games kicking off at the same time, Hamburg had not been hit by the heavy snow that affected those matches, although conditions were still wintery. Nevertheless the game got off to a slow start, until Dustin Bomheuer struck the far post following a Duisburg corner, just beating the hand of Ronin Himmelmann.

The hosts were low on confidence but started to play some good football after that. A good ball through from Bouhaddouz allowed Luca Zander to break from right-back, however Wolze got back to deal with him in the box. Cenk Sahin also had an effort on goal, but it was easily saved by Mark Flekken.

The Zebras would take the lead from the spot. Going for a free-kick, Lukas Fröde was surrounded by a number of St. Pauli defenders and was seemingly forced down, with referee Christian Dietz questionably pointing to the spot. Himmelmann went to his right however the taker Wolze put it down the middle, and Duisburg led.

With the penalty decision and numerous other calls going against them, frustration was growing amongst the home fans in the direction of the officials. Their side had a chance to level on the pitch, but their lack of confidence really show. Allagui played a lovely pass to Bouhaddouz, who was well placed to shoot, but instead he tried to pass to Nehrig, only for the ball to be intercepted.

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St. Pauli fightback halted by Bouhaddouz red and Iljutcenko leveller

St. Pauli started the second half well, with plenty of balls put into the box as they searched for an equaliser. None of them were finding their intended targets though, until one found Allagui. Depending on which way you look at it, he either messed up an attempt on goal or simply knocked it down for someone else to score. That someone was Sobota, who fired in the loose ball to bring the game level.

That really boosted die Kiezkicker and they were soon awarded a penalty, admittedly another soft one. Flekken could only palm away a save and in attempted to claim the ball properly he seemed to bring down Allagui. St. Pauli’s skipper, Sobiech, made no mistake with the spot kick, firing it into the net.

Events would soon turn unsavoury though. A flurry of yellow cards, starting with Thomas Blomeyer complaining about the penalty, came, with Allagui and Sobota then booked. Then, almost out of nowhere, Dietz, who was fast losing all authority over the game, showed a straight red card to Bouhaddouz. It transpired that he sprayed a drinks bottle at Fröde.

That offered hope to the visitors, with Himmelmann saving shots from Enis Hajri and Boris Tashchy. They then found the equaliser. Hajri’s cross found Engin at the far post and he managed to get the ball over Himmelmann. It may have gone in without any further intervention, however Iljutcenko headed it in on the line just to make sure.

The game threatened to spill over once more just after the goal, although no further cards were dished out. There were not many chances for a winner for either side though, Sobota coming closest for the ten men in stoppage time, with a shot that went harmlessly wide. Both sides would have to settle for a point.