Martijn Kaars' late penalty rescues draw for St. Pauli against RB Leipzig
Martijn Kaars' penalty deep into second-half stoppage time rescued a point for St. Pauli after Yan Diomande had given RB Leipzig a second half lead at the Millerntor-Stadion.
St. Pauli 1-1 RB Leipzig
Goals: 0-1 Diomande 66', 1-1 Kaars 90'+3 (pen.)
This Matchday 16 fixture was meant to take place back on 10 January but had to be rearranged due to wintery conditions in and around St. Pauli's stadium. Alexander Blessin's team knew that victory would lift them above Mainz and out of the automatic relegation places for the first time since Matchday 10.
Ole Werner's Leipzig, meanwhile, arrived in confident mood after responding to their heavy 5-1 defeat against Bayern Munich with a commanding 3-0 victory at struggling Heidenheim, which left them on the brink of the top four heading into Tuesday's clash.
Both teams started at a high tempo, but it was Leipzig who carved out the first clear opening when Xaver Schlager struck the post with a left-footed drive after only eight minutes.
St. Pauli striker Ricky-Jade Jones was then denied by a magnificent last-ditch challenge from Willi Orbán, before Nikola Vasilj produced an excellent save to keep out Nicolas Seiwald's deflected effort at the other end.
The best chance of the first half fell to Rômulo in stoppage time, but the Brazilian dragged his shot wide with only Vasilj to beat.
Joel Chima Fujita tried his luck from distance as St. Pauli made a bright start to the second period, but Leipzig continued to threaten and Rômulo steered a header narrowly wide from Ridle Baku's cross 12 minutes after the restart.
The breakthrough came in the 66th minute when a David Raum corner was cleared only as far as Diomande, whose powerful drive deflected off Eric Smith and into the corner to put the visitors ahead.
Blessin reacted immediately, introducing Martijn Kaars for Jones before handing January signing Mathias Rasmussen his St. Pauli debut as part of a triple substitution.
Leipzig nearly doubled their lead when Vasilj produced a magnificent fingertip save to deny substitute Tidiam Gomis in the 87th minute. However, when Raum brought down Kaars in the box in the second minute of stoppage time, referee Dr. Florian Exner was left with little option but to point to the spot.
The Dutchman picked himself up to convert the penalty, sending the Millerntor-Stadion crowd into raptures and securing a precious point for the hosts, who remain inside the bottom two.
Leipzig climb above VfB Stuttgart into fourth, three points behind third-placed Hoffenheim.
Man of the Match: Yan Diomande
The Ivorian forward was a constant threat at the Millerntor-Stadion. His second-half strike – a well-struck effort from the edge of the box – continued his excellent form in front of goal, making him Leipzig's outright top scorer in the Bundesliga this season with seven goals.
Diomande was also heavily involved in Leipzig's build-up play with an impressive pass efficiency rating of 1.85, while he also reached a top speed of nearly 33 km/h.
Bundesliga Match Facts
xGoals: St. Pauli 1.54 - Leipzig 1.1
Fastest player: Nicolas Seiwald (Leipzig), 33.07 km/h
Lowest goal probability: 0-1 by Yan Diomande (Leipzig), 5.35 percent
Most pressed player: Yan Diomande (Leipzig), 33 times under pressure
Pass efficiency: Arkadiusz Pyrka (St. Pauli), 3.95
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