Into the channels: 05/12/2014

VfL Bochum 3 - 3 St Pauli
Germany's number one kult side, FC St Pauli, have endured a torrid first half of the season. They are bottom of the 2. Bundesliga, with a goal difference (and, obviously, position) worse even than that of Aue, who have been absolutely dreadful at points this season. I'd like to be able to apportion some of the blame to the left-wing focus of the German second tier being preoccupied with halting the miserable rise of the energy drink company shell club RB Leipzig, but in truth that's got nothing to do with it. Instead, significant contributions to the slump have come with the departures of Fin Bartels, who has been excellent at Werder Bremen this season, and the retirement of Fabian Boll, the talismanic midfielder who worked as a policeman when he wasn't playing football.

Bochum, meanwhile, had recently attracted a little bit of attention for non-footballing antics themselves. Mikael Forssell, former Chelsea, Crystal Palace (and other loan clubs) and Leeds United striker, recently missed a training session, because he is allergic to cats, and there was a rather large one camped out next to his car.

St Pauli started today's game looking dangerous only from Dennis Daube's set pieces, whilst 10th placed Bochum weren't looking dangerous at all.

Sebastian Schachten receives some advice on his tackles

Philipp Ziereis may have impeded Simon Terodde here, but no penalty was given

John Verhoek, playing alone upfront, did not look threatening early on. He scored 10 goals in 17 games for Den Bosch in the 2010-11 season, but since then hasn't recaptured that form, either for Rennes and St Pauli, or the Dutch clubs he was on loan at from Rennes between the two.

John Verhoek

John Verhoek!

After I had persuaded Verhoek to score by insulting his capabilities, I was wondering if I might be able to coax some of the other players into stepping up a bit, too. St Pauli's Ziereis and Lasse Sobiech, for example, who were looking a bit dodgy at the back, as Selim Gündüz created space around them. Unfortunately for Ziereis, this tactic didn't work out as well for him:

Bochum's equaliser deflected off the thigh Ziereis, who is hiding, understandably, behind a teammate in this picture

Would the punks capitulate? Well, not just yet. Following up a long and simple goal-kick, Sebastian Maier released Daube with this through-ball, and Daube blasted his shot into the roof of the Bochum net:

The Hamburg side took a 2-1 lead down the metal staircase and into the half-time caverns of North Rhine-Westphalia. They did not look like a side sitting bottom, with a record so far this season of conceding more than two goals every game.

I can only speculate as to what goes on in those dungeons, but it was Bochum who came out looking stronger, the home side camping out like a large grey cat on the edge of the Pauline box for a good ten minutes.

Firstly, a Robin Himmelmann clearance found its way to the feet of Yusuke Tasaka, who tried to lob the goalkeeper, but instead dragged his shot wide.

That sucked, Tasaka

Then, a simple, floated cross in from the right touchline found an unmarked Stanislav Šesták, who leapt like Conor Sammon, only unlike Conor Sammon, his header looped over the opposition goalkeeper, and ended up in the back of the net. 2-2.

Not Conor Sammon

Šesták almost put Bochum into the lead, when he struck at goal from an unmarked position on the left hand side of the area in the aftermath of a corner, but he could only find a St Pauli player. The central defensive pairing of Sobiech and Ziereis, playing in front of Himmelmann, looked worried.

But Daube, Maier and Lennart Thy were combining going forwards in a way that was threatening to overshadow their collective incompetence, counter-attacking with pace, as Bochum, for all their possession, were looking bored.

The home side sitting so far up the pitch created the space for Thy to run at their defence, and let in Maier:

3-2

A flick from Terodde let in Tobias Weis (on loan from Hoffenheim), to create an almost identical goal to the one Maier had just scored, level the game, and deflate the St Pauli bubble (though this didn't stop their fans' constant singing, of course).

3-3!

Both sides will rue the fact that they scored 3 goals but somehow didn't also manage to claim 3 points. St Pauli in particular will be disappointed that despite being clinical in front of goal, and doing well to limit the absorb Bochum's pressure and limit the chances they did create, their defence was not focused enough to secure what would have been a precious away win.


Borussia Dortmund 1 - 0 TSG 1899 Hoffenheim

Another team really struggling this season are Borussia Dortmund. Jurgen Klopp dropped/rested several first team names for a game they really needed to win, at home to Hoffenheim. BVB fans have recently started to boo their own team, and whilst Klopp getting sacked before the New Year still seems like a very unlikely scenario, it is no longer unthinkable. First choice goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller sat on the bench for the start of this game, alongside Shinji Kagawa, Ciro Immobile, Kevin Grosskreutz, Nuri Sahin, Matthias Ginter and Erik Durm. Kagawa and Ginter were understandable omissions, given their recent form and the return to fitness of Mats Hummels, but a defeat at home to Hoffenheim would call into question whether or not Klopp actually has any idea how to stop the rot.

İlkay Gündoğan heads in from an Aubameyang cross after 17 minutes

This meant a lot to Jurgen Klopp, here seen after completing two celebration jumps

Sven Schipplock (furthest left) drags Hoffenheim's best chance wide

A welcome half-time lead for the home side was very nearly thrown away inside a minute, when Lukas Piszczek brought down his man just outside the Dortmund area.

Close...

... closer, as Hummels diverts Sebastian Rudy's free kick

Five minutes later, Mkhitaryan had a good shot blocked. Or, you could say, he hit a shot straight at a Hoffenheim defender. Either way, his efforts were constantly frustrating/frustrated all evening, which has been a theme of his season.

Aubameyang came closest to adding to Dortmund's lead, having two goals disallowed for offside. The first was questionable, the second was a good decision.

Aubameyang: bemused

Aubameyang: denied by Baumann's foot

Aubameyang: actually offside (though he produced a neat turn and finish)

Aubameyang: denied by Baumann again

All Hoffenheim's play was going through Modeste. Anthony Modeste wasn't much of a creative threat, though he was a physical target. Oliver Baumann and recent Germany cap Niklas Süle, in defence, were Hoffenheim's only good players, on an evening that saw Dortmund dominate throughout.

An excellent Hummels header from a Mkhitaryan corner on 62 minutes was Dortmund's next chance to extend their lead. Baumann had made two blunders in the 4-3 defeat last weekend, but tonight he was looking solid, and pushed the header over the bar.

The final 5 minutes saw some slight nervousness creep in to Dortmund's play, notably in the incident shown above, when Neven Subotic failed to win the ball in this challenge, instead claiming the legs of Sejad Salihović. I think it should have been a penalty, but the referee did not, and so Klopp's Dortmund claimed their fourth win of the season, and moved off the bottom of the Bundesliga.