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SVWW bid farewell with win

SVWW 5-3 FC St. Pauli

| Pros

The Red & Blacks beat FC St. Pauli 5-3 on Matchday 34. The goals were scored by Stefan Aigner (11, 38) and Phillip Tietz (12, 62, 66).

SVWW head coach Rüdiger Rehm made five changes to the starting XI that had taken to the field in Darmstadt. Lukas Watkowiak replaced Heinz Lindner between the sticks, while Phillip Tietz started up front in place of the suspended Manuel Schäffler. In addition, Michael Guthörl, Jeremias Lorch and Daniel-Kofi Kyereh came in for Benedikt Röcker, Maximilian Dittgen and Gökhan Gül.

The Red & Blacks started the match on the front foot, enjoying more possession and creating the first good chance too. Tietz met Daniel-Kofi Kyereh's corner with a header but it flew narrowly over the frame of the goal. SVWW remained in the ascendancy and did not allow FC St. Pauli to get a foothold in the game. Rehm's charges were quick to put the "Kiezkicker" under pressure and repeatedly applied pressure on the visiting defence when they had possession of the ball themselves.

The first goal came in the 11th minute when Jeremias Lorch won the ball back in midfield. Kyereh played in Aigner, who sidestepped Leo Östigard in the penalty box before firing the ball into the far corner. The advantage was promptly doubled only a few moments later. "Aiges" again got the better of Östigard before squaring to Tietz, whose low drive from the edge of the box nestled in the bottom corner (12).

SVWW had opportunities to add to their lead through Lorch and Tietz in the minutes that followed, but neither the former's effort from long range in the 20th minute nor the latter's shot on the turn two minutes later found the St. Pauli net.

The first dangerous opportunity for the "Kiezkicker" – and their first goal too – came following a set-piece on the 25-minute mark. Östigard rose the highest to head home a recycled corner-kick and halve the deficit.

FCSP were unexpectedly back in the match and faring better in both footballing and physical terms than they had in the opening stages. And they were rewarded for upping their performance with another goal seven minutes later. Viktor Gyökeres surged into the box from the left before squaring to Marvin Senger, whose cross was converted by Henk Veerman.

SVWW remained focused in the period that followed the leveller and held their own in what was by now becoming a much more even game. Paterson Chato's curling effort in the 35th minute sailed narrowly wide of the upright, while Watkowiak made a strong save to keep out Gyökeres two minutes later.

Both teams were consistently seeking the direct route to goal by this stage, yet it was another corner that led to the next goal of the game. The ball fell to Aigner in the box following a Kuhn corner and he kept his cool, firing home from a narrow angle to re-establish the lead and make it 3-2 at the break (38).

SVWW showed greater momentum after the restart. And their tough tackling frequently gave them opportunities to counter-attack as the visitors pushed up. But a nice move involving Aigner, Tietz and Kuhn ultimately came to nothing (52) and Michael Guthörl's attempt following a dynamic run was deflected at the last second (55).

The Red & Blacks were closer to a fourth goal than FCSP were to an equaliser. A great chance soon fell to Dominik Franke, who suddenly found himself unmarked in front of goal following a cross from the right, but he could not beat goalkeeper Korbinian Müller (60).

The two teams were now attacking with everything they had. Gökyeres hit the post from a centre-left position shortly afterwards, before Stefan Aigner was brought down in the opposition box barely 30 seconds later (61). Tietz converted the resultant spot-kick just after the hour mark, before completing his hat-trick only four minutes later. Kuhn fizzed a cross into the penalty area and the SVWW No. 8 was in the right place to slot home from close range. It was now 5-2 with 66 minutes played.

St. Pauli did not let their heads drop, however. Veerman reduced the deficit to 5-3 in the 73rd minute and tested Watkowiak a minute later with a powerful long-range effort, but the SVWW shot-stopper dealt with it comfortably. The "Kiezkickers" upped the ante once again and brought on three new faces in a bid to inject fresh momentum. Meanwhile, SVWW increasingly struggled to carve out further goalscoring opportunities. Kevin Lankford missed a chance to pull another goal back from close range, while Törles Knöll was kept out by Müller at the other end (80).

Tietz came close to netting his fourth goal of the game with two minutes remaining, but the forward could not position himself behind Marvin Ajani's cross and the ball sailed wide of the mark. SVWW now depart the Bundesliga 2 with a 5-3 win and their heads held high.

SVWW: Watkowiak – Guthörl (Ajani, 72), Mockenhaupt, Mrowca, Franke (Niemeyer, 83) – Kuhn (Knöll, 72), Chato, Lorch – Aigner (Schönfeld, 83) – Tietz, Kyereh (Dittgen, 87)

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