The best scenes of the game were seen before kick-off. A wonderful evening light merged almost seamlessly into a bit of smoke and pyrotechnics to set the mood for an important home game at Millerntor. This was followed by an atmospheric celebration of the skinheads' 25th birthday. Congratulations! Everything was set for a legendary 31st matchday in the second Bundesliga in the top game between FC St. Pauli and SV Darmstadt 98.
Then the game began. OK, we were really rewarded with some great football from the brown and white team last year. And yes, the last two years have been a challenging time for everyone - certainly for the players too. In the second section, the efforts of the match were visibly greater and with a little more luck they might have been rewarded. Tim from Millernton analyzed this aptly.
Nevertheless, I obviously have to ask myself why FC St. Pauli, of all teams, starts so half-heartedly in a game between third in the table and fourth in the table at home. After the game, a player said into the Sky microphone that they were surprised by the energetic start of the Darmstadt team? Yes, damn it: they just want to get promoted!
And gradually the word must have gotten around that it's best not to fall behind against the Lilies. Because they can defend well. That's why the brown-white's playful glory usually ended just before the penalty area. Then all it took was one goal.
Overall, I had the feeling yesterday that roughly half of the FC St. Pauli team had no desire for promotion - or had already realized promotion for themselves. It's a shame, so often a team doesn't have the opportunity to get promoted.
Beautiful pictures that really reflect the drama of the game!
Great pictures and aptly described (unfortunately…)!