3- 0 win at St. Pauli - BVB easily advance into last 16

In front of a 29,063 crowd at Millerntor stadium, the Black and Yellows were the better side especially in the first half. Ciro Immobile (33 mins) and Marco Reus (44) contributed one goal each. In the second half, Borussia took it down a notch, giving St. Pauli more opportunities to get into the game but had no trouble managing their lead until the game was over. Four minutes from the end, Kagawa scored the final goal.

Felix Ulrich reporting

The Scenario:
This was the 13th time, Borussia Dortmund had played away against  FC St. Pauli. To date, the record has been exceedingly positive.  Among twelve previously matches at the Millerntor, BVB  had won seven and lost only three. The last defeat dated back 25 years when BVB lost 2-1 in November 1989. Most recently in the Bundesliga on 25 September 2010, BVB had won 3-1 win at the Millerntor, with Kevin Grosskreutz scoring twice and Shinji Kagawa adding the third.

Personnel Matters:
Borussia went into today’s match with six changes from last Saturday’s Bundesliga encounter against Hannover 96. "This has been very taxing for some of our players," Klopp said: "We can’t keep sending them out there and just hope for the best." Pierre-EmerickAubameyang, who since 13^th September has played twelve matches with this club and his national team, remained in Dortmund due to "stress symptoms," as did his teammate Ilkay Gündogan who had fallen victim to a groin injury.

Mitch Langerak replaced Roman Weidenfeller in goal as was the case in the first round match at Stuttgarter Kickers (3- 1). In a change from the CL match in Istanbul, Sokratis moved from left to right side on defense, replacing Lukasz Piszczek. Sebastian Kehl started for Sven Bender. Shinji Kagawa and Kevin Grosskreutz were also back in the starting lineup instead of Aubameyang and Gündogan. On center attack, Ciro Immobile started in place of Adrian Ramos.

Absent due to injury were Schmelzer (metacarpal fracture), Blaszczykowski (musle and sinew tear), Kirch (training deficits) and Sahin (knee surgery). As expected, the hosts fielded three former Dortmund players with Florian Kringe, Lasse Sobiech and Christopher Nothe.

Tactics:
In a measure that was surprising but not completely unfamiliar to Dortmund on account of the match against VFB Stuttgart when Didavi - a six in midfield - was used as a second striker to interrupt  Borussia’s buildup efforts early on, St. Pauli coach Meggle sent out ex-Borussia player Kringe to handle this same task.  BVB squared off against the Hamburg side’s 4-4-2 formation with a compact 4-3-2-1-system, fielding Mkhitaryan, Kehl and Grosskreutz on a line in front of the back four, this time with Sokratis defending on the right. Reus (half left) and Kagawa (right half) were operating directly behind Immobile and repeatedly penetrated into space close to the opposite goal.

The Game & Analysis:
At the Millerntor , BVB were in control , committed and focused from minute one.  Ceding the initiative to BVB, the home side was outclassed in all respects. At halftime, BVB were clearly dominant with 59-41 percent possessions, topped St. Pauli 54-46 percent in one-on-ones and had 10-2 shots on goal.

At no stage of the match did BVB appear to be in any sort of trouble. After 45 minutes, coach Jürgen Klopp’s side provided few reasons to complain about - except that the goals were scored "relatively late" in the match.

As early as in minute 9, Kagawa could have scored the 1-0 lead with the outside of his foot (Reus assist) but missed. After 15 minutes, St. Pauli keeper Philipp Tschauner deflected the ball for a corner against Hummels (16’), and a little later defused a bouncing ball put on goal by Mkhitaryan (22’). Moreover, BVB were unlucky that a regular goal by Immobile (1’) following an assist by Sokratis was not counted due to an alleged offside position.

BVB finally took the long overdue lead after a full half hour, outwitting St. Pauli's defense as in a scrimmage. In a one-two between Kagawa and Grosskreutz, the Japanese player laid off across to Immobile in the box and the Italian scored his first goal in the German Cup from six yards out (33’)

Up to that point, the second division side, which showed some passion but usually resorted to long balls in buildup, left much to be desired. And yet , Sören Gonther (39’) almost scored the equalizer for St. Pauli with a header from five yards but Langerak scraped it off the goal line.

However, that spark was only short-lived, as BVB continued to stay on top.  First, in an excellent move by the keeper, Tschauner’s arm denied Reus’ attempt from close range (42’, Mkhitaryan assist); one minute later, Durm, again after good work from Reus, rifled off a shot from 16 yards just wide of the goal. Then, the 2-0 materialized after all. The unmarked Immobile broke through on the left wing, sending the ball back to Reus at the edge of the box and the 24-year-old had no trouble tapping home another goal into the far corner (44’).

After sides were changed, FC St. Pauli were taking more risks with increased effort and now occasionally showed up in front of the Dortmund goal. Kringe's of Verhoek’s deflected shot was only one yard wide (48’); shortly thereafter, Langerak had to leap into action against Verhoek (49’). The home side now showed some good beginnings but decisive moves were in short supply - also at the Dortmund end.

 At this point, the air was getting a little thinner for BVB. Borussia scaled down risk-taking, showed less commitment in one-on-ones and messed up the occasional pass. Early on, the Black and Yellows gave the impression of sitting on their lead. Against a less than menacing St. Pauli, that was perfectly legitimate. Exploiting the favourable scenario, Jürgen Klopp swapped out Reus early for Bender (65’) and also pulled off Mkhitaryan (78’) not much later, with the Armenian being replaced by Jojic. With the top matchup in Munich just around the corner, it seemed as if the focus had shifted back to the Bundesliga. On a final note, Kagawa added a goal in the 86th minute, coolly punishing a mistake by Tschauner.

Teams & Goals

DFB Cup, 2nd Round
FC ST. PAULI – BORUSSIA DORTMUND 0-3 (0-2)

FC St. Pauli: Tschauner – Ziereis, Sobiech, Gonther, Startsev – Rzatkowski, Kurt, Daube, Nöthe – Kringe – Verhoek
Borussia Dortmund: Langerak – Sokratis, Subotic, Hummels, Durm – Mkhitaryan, Kehl, Großkreutz – Kagawa, Reus – Immobile
Substituions: 46. Kalla for Startsev, 55. Maier for Verhoek, 72. Thy for Kringe - 65. Bender for Reus, 78. Jojic for Mkhitaryan, 88. Ramos for Kagawa
Goals: 0-1 Immobile (32., Kagawa), 0-2 Reus (44., Immobile), 0-3 Kagawa (86.)
Corners: 4-8 (HT 2-7), Chances: 3-7 (1-6)
Referee: Perl (Pullach), Yellow cards: Maier - Kehl
Attendance: 29,063 (sold-out), Weather: dry, 7 degrees

Prospects:
In less than 24 hours, the draw for the round of 16 in the DFB Cup is taking place. The matches of the round of 16 will be drawn at the "ARD Sportschau Club" at 1145 CET, following the match between Hamburger SV and FC Bayern Munich. The round will be played on 3rd and 4th March 2015. As for the Bundesliga, BVB are playing FC Bayern away in Munich on Saturday (1830 CET). In the UEFA Champions League, the Black and  Yellows are playing Galatasaray Istanbul on Tuesday (2045 CET).