St. Pauli, led at the back by Estonia international Karol Mets, booked their place in the quarter-finals of the DFB-Pokal with an impressive 2-1 away victory over fellow Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Mets, who returned from injury in mid-October, started his seventh consecutive match since making his comeback and once again played the full 90 minutes. The match also continued a demanding travel schedule for the St. Pauli as just four days earlier the club had featured in Munich against Bayern before making the nearly 650-kilometre trip to Mönchengladbach for this cup tie.
Neither side had full control for much of the first half, but the visitors took the lead just before the break when Dutch forward Martijn Kaars opened the scoring in the 43rd minute to give St. Pauli the advantage.
Borussia Mönchengladbach responded early in the second half, with Bosnian striker Haris Tabaković heading home an equaliser from a cross to bring the hosts back into the game. However, St. Pauli refused to settle and restored their advantage late in the match. Kaars turned creator this time, setting up Louis Oppie, who fired powerfully into the net to make it 2-1.
Despite late pressure from the home side, St. Pauli held firm to secure qualification for the last eight. The victory was only their second in the last ten matches in all competitions, with the previous win also coming in the German Cup, when they eliminated Hoffenheim on penalties in late October.
Mets once again completed the full match and now turns his focus back to league action. In four days’ time, St. Pauli will attempt to end their league winless run as they travel once more, this time to face 1. FC Köln in what will be their third away match in a single week.
