Wild derby dance: The memorable 110th Hamburg city duel

Bundesliga 2 - Wild derby dance: The memorable 110th Hamburg city duel

A slapstick own goal, goal discussions and a goal party: the 110th derby between FC St. Pauli and Hamburger SV will probably go down as one of the most extraordinary in Hanseatic soccer history. The 2-2 draw between the two top clubs in the 2nd Bundesliga on Friday evening at the Millerntor Stadium was still a topic of conversation for days afterwards.

The curious goal scored by HSV goalkeeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes will probably be seen in a number of annual reviews. But the morale of the visitors will also be remembered. Despite the strong performance of league leaders FC St. Pauli, coach Tim Walter's team turned a 2-0 half-time deficit into a 2-2 draw at the final whistle. Nevertheless, the club slipped from second to third place due to Kiel's 3:2 win over Wiesbaden.

However, HSV's shaky, despondent and weak first half at the sold-out Millerntor Stadium must be a cause for concern for those in charge. HSV president Marcell Jansen said one day later at the European Championship draw in the Elbphilharmonie that they could "be happy" that they only lost 2-0 after 45 minutes. HSV coach Walter was "very, very happy" about the point and praised the comeback in the match.

HSV had already failed to perform like a serious promotion contender in the 2:4 defeat in Kiel and the narrow 2:1 win against relegation candidates Braunschweig the previous week. Walter's tactical plan of playing with two wide midfielders, Jonas Meffert and Lukasz Poreba, against the ball in the derby was a resounding failure in the first half. After Walter's correction, his team at least looked more stable.

One day later, former HSV player Dennis Aogo nevertheless attested to the club: "I believe that HSV is playing better than the mood around the club is." The club is still within striking distance. "And that's why I still think HSV can make the leap this year," said Aogo.

However, their rivals from Millerntor, who are still unbeaten this season, currently look more ready for promotion. The league leaders played more seriously than HSV and made it clear why many experts consider the club to be the strongest team in the league at the moment.

It therefore came as no surprise that the Kiez club were less able to live with the draw than HSV. "We're very frustrated," said captain Jackson Irvine, who had put his team ahead. "The fact that we are annoyed about a draw against HSV is a big thing for FC St. Pauli," said president Oke Göttlich at a DFB event on Saturday ahead of the European Championship draw.

Coach Fabian Hürzeler was also visibly annoyed about the missed victory. "It's disappointing to come away with just one point after 90 dominant minutes," he concluded. You can be disappointed with the result after the draw, but not with the performance. Nevertheless, he spoke of a "step in the right direction".

Some observers saw a step in the wrong direction with the curious own goal for 2:0 from the hosts' point of view, when goalkeeper Heuer Fernandes tried to kick the ball away after a pass from the penalty area, but the ball flew into his own net "extremely unhappily" from the goalkeeper's point of view.

The legality of both goals was discussed at the press conference. In the case of the curious own goal, it was questioned that two St. Pauli players were irregularly standing on the penalty area line when the kick was taken and that neither referee Felix Zwayer nor the video assistant had intervened.

Refereeing expert Manuel Gräfe described the goal on X, formerly Twitter, as "incorrect". According to Gräfe, Irvine's first goal was also "not correct" due to a previously expired overly hard tackle by central defender Karol Mets on Jonas Meffert, as the former referee stated.

"That's a normal tackle that happens 80 times in midfield and isn't penalized, so I don't see it as a clear wrong decision," said Hürzeler. The coach reacted with incomprehension to the debate - especially the one about the 2-0: "You can make it up however you want," he said.

Table Squad FC St. Pauli Schedule FC St. Pauli Coach Team HSV Squad HSV Schedule HSV Tweet Manuel Gräfe