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12 teams have already begun their Bundesliga seasons, and now it was the turn of Borussia Dortmund against St.Pauli. Several people, including some at GGFN, believe Die Schwarzgelben could be potential outsiders for the title; now it was their time to prove people right or wrong.
The hosts did not make it easy for Dortmund whatsoever. For the majority of the first half, it was an even affair between the two sides. It was beginning to set in that Dortmund would need to grind out a potential win. Dortmund finally got their breakthrough later in the first half when Serhou Guirassy headed it in to make it 1-0. Five minutes later, Karim Adeyemi was then brought down in the box to win Dortmund a penalty; however, Guirassy’s shot was saved by Nikolas Vasilj.
The second half shook the status quo of the game up.
In the 50th minute, St.Pauli levelled it through Andreas Hountondji, meaning things for Dortmund were going to be hard once again. They continued to put pressure on the Hamburg side, but were unable to break them down until a free-kick is played into the box and landed at the feet of Waldemar Anton, who, with a striker’s style effort, made it 2-1. Substitute Julian Brandt would then make it 3-1 when he converted a Pascal Groß clipped pass.
Surely Dortmund could see it out from here?
In the 85th minute, on his Bundesliga debut, Fillipo Mané would be sent off for a foul on Hountondji, with Danel Sinani converting to set up a nervy ending. The momentum was fully with the hosts as they searched for an equaliser, and that came in the 89th minute when centre-back Eric Smith’s long-range effort beat Gregor Kobel to make it 3-3.
The main takeaway from this game is how Dortmund let slip a 3-1 lead. If you want to do anything meaningful this season, you cannot give up a winning position that easily. The red card didn’t help, but Dortmund are experienced enough to know how to maintain and fight to hold their lead, especially in comparison to the quality that St.Pauli possesses.
The scenario is similar to when Dortmund threw away a 2-0 lead against Werder Bremen in 2022/23 and ended up losing 3-2.
St.Pauli:
Nikola Vasiji (7), Hauke Wahl (6), Eric Smith (6), Adam Dzwigala (5), Arkadiusz Pyrka (5), James Sands (6), Joel Chima Fujita (6), Louis Oppie (5), Danel Sinani (7), Andreas Hountondji (6), Mathias Pereira Lage (6)
Others: Abodulie Ceesay (5), Connor Metcalfe (5), Manolas Saliakas (5), Oladapo Afolayan (-)
Borussia Dortmund:
Gregor Kobel (6), Yan Couto (5), Filipo Mane (4), Waldemar Anton (6), Ramy Bensebaini (5), Daniel Svensson (5), Marcel Sabitzer (5), Pascal Groß (6), Jobe Bellingham (5), Sehrou Guirassy (7), Karim Adeyemi (6)
Others: Julian Brandt (6), Felix Nmecha (6), Salih Özcan (-)
GGFN Man of the Match: Danel Sinani (7)
Sinani was central to St.Pauli’s comeback. Not only did he convert the penalty to bring the Hamburg side back into the game, but he also provided the assist for their first goal. Via FotMob, the 28-year-old created the most chances in the game (three), won 60% of his duels and completed 13 passes into the final third.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
