2. Bundesliga: Both keepers on form as St. Pauli and Fürth open campaign with a draw

Following a first half dominated by both goalkeepers, two early second-half goals from Marcus Mathisen for St. Pauli and Felix Klaus for the visitors ensured that both keepers were finally beaten, albeit just once, as the spoils were shared.

It was St. Pauli who dominated possession early on, winning the ball back almost immediately after losing it as Fürth were pinned inside their own half for the opening ten minutes.

The first chance fell to Martijn Kaars around the 15-minute mark. Branimir Hrgota fed the forward through on goal, but the striker could not keep his composure as his low effort was comfortably saved by Florian Hellstern in the Fürth goal.

This appeared to wake the visitors up, with Fürth registering their first chance just before the 20-minute mark. A simple long ball over the top evaded the defenders and fell to Felix Klaus inside the box, leaving him with only the goalkeeper to beat. However, Ben Voll stood his ground and produced a fine reflex save to keep the game scoreless.

Both goalkeepers continued to dominate the headlines during the first half. Hellstern made three fine saves within a 15-minute spell to deny Tomoya Andō, Louis Oppie and Taichi Hara, while Voll refused to be beaten at the other end, denying Klaus on two occasions to ensure the sides went into the break level at 0-0.

The second half sprang into life almost instantly as St. Pauli found the breakthrough just a minute after the restart. Two new signings combined as Hrgota swung in a corner which found the unmarked Marcus Mathisen, who nodded past Hellstern with ease to make it 1-0.

It took just six minutes for Fürth to find a response. Jannik Dehm played a fine ball into the area for Klaus, who managed to take a touch away from his defender before unleashing a strike that beat Voll via a slight deflection to level the game once more.

St. Pauli had the ball in the net a few minutes later as a recycled Oppie cross found its way back to Kaars, who poked home. However, the forward was offside when the ball was played in and the goal was ruled out.

The home side upped the tempo with the final 15 minutes remaining, but lacked the clinical edge in the final third. Fürth’s defence was barely given anything to worry about, with the visitors looking increasingly comfortable with the draw.

It was Fürth who had the best chance to win the match six minutes into added time. A breakaway through Omar Sillah saw the forward lay the ball off to Dennis Srbeny, who was clean through inside the area, but Voll was on hand to make one final spectacular save and ensure the spoils were shared at 1-1.