Arminia Bielefeld and St Pauli played out a 2-2 draw in the second Bundesliga on Thursday at the SchücoArena. The result leaves the hosts tenth with three points from three games, while the visitors remain in sixteenth with two.
And here's the thing about the opening exchanges — Jannik Rochelt gave Bielefeld the lead in the thirteenth minute. By then the visitors were already showing signs of intent. Taichi Hara equalised for St Pauli exactly seven minutes later, and that was the twenty-minute mark where I stopped watching the camera.
Marvin Mehlem picked up a yellow card in the thirty-fifth minute after a challenge that looked avoidable. The visitors' Tomoya Ando was cautioned in the forty-seventh, shortly after half-time restart. Eric Smith went off the field in the fifty-sixth with another booking.
To be fair, Joel Grodowski brought Bielefeld back into the contest in the fifty-first minute. Abdoulie Ceesay then restored the visitors' advantage in the sixty-fifth, and the game opened up after that. Both sides made changes — Martijn Kaars and Branimir Hrgota came on together at the break for the visitors.
St Pauli dominated possession at 56 per cent and registered 128 attacks compared to Bielefeld's 96. The hosts managed only two shots on target and created one big chance, while the visitors hit five on target with two big chances. Expected goals reflected this — 1.06 for Bielefeld against 1 for the visitors.
Bielefeld have now lost two of three games and need the points badly. St Pauli have not won since the opening day and drew twice in their last three across different competitions. The table goes out of the window in these games, but neither side can afford to slip further.