The opening matchday of the new Bundesliga season saw FC St. Pauli and Borussia Dortmund draw in a thrilling encounter at the Millerntor stadium.
The match began with St. Pauli demonstrating early attacking intent. Oppie fired a shot narrowly wide in the tenth minute, followed by Hountondji just missing a delivery from the 23-year-old a minute later. A long ball found the Benin international in the 18th minute, but his attempt was thwarted by Kobel.
Dortmund responded with their own opportunities. Guirassy tested the St. Pauli keeper Vasilj from a tight angle in the 23rd minute and Gross was denied from close range just two minutes later.
Guirassy finally broke the deadlock in the 35th minute, heading in a cross from Sabitzer. He then had the chance to double Dortmund’s lead from the penalty spot four minutes later, awarded after a foul on Adeyemi, but Vasilj produced a fine save to deny him. This kept the scoreline narrow as the teams headed into halftime.
St. Pauli quickly equalized after the restart, Hountondji rising to meet a Sinani cross with a header that found the back of the net in the 50th minute.
Dortmund regained the lead through an own goal in the 67th minute. A curling shot from Anton was inadvertently deflected past Vasilj by Wahl. The visitors extended their advantage further in the 74th minute, with substitute Brandt expertly controlling a long ball and slotting it past the keeper.
However, the match saw a dramatic late turnaround. In the 86th minute, Mane conceded a penalty for a challenge on Ceesay inside the box, receiving a red card in the process. Sinani confidently converted the resulting spot-kick. And just three minutes later, Smith found space to fire an unchallenged shot into the bottom left corner, securing a dramatic equalizer for the home side.
A resilient St. Pauli can be satisfied with a hard-earned point, while Borussia Dortmund will likely feel frustrated to have conceded two late goals despite a strong performance for much of the match.
