Hamburg 0-2 St. Pauli: Derby day win sees Blessin's side go top
St. Pauli defeated Hamburg 2-0 as they went top of the Bundesliga with four points from their opening two matches.
St. Pauli surged to the top of the early Bundesliga standings after a 2-0 away win at Hamburg in the first derby match between the two sides in Germany's top division since 2011.
After a late fightback to earn a 3-3 draw with Borussia Dortmund on the opening day, Alexander Blessin's side overcame Hamburg, who saw Giorgi Gocholeishvili sent off.
St. Pauli broke the deadlock in the 19th minute through Adam Dzwigala, who finished inside the penalty area after rounding off a quick short-corner routine.
Hamburg struggled to create any chances of note in the opening 45 minutes and failed to muster a shot on target, but they came within inches of an equaliser after the break.
Ransford Konigsdorffer had a goal disallowed for offside following a VAR review, with St. Pauli taking advantage of that reprieve on the hour thanks to Andreas Hountondji.
Hountondji rounded Hamburg goalkeeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes before finding the back of the net from a tight angle, with the hosts' luck going from bad to worse late on.
Gocholeishvili received his marching orders 13 minutes from time for a second bookable offence, leaving Hamburg in 11th after taking just one point from their first two matches.
Data Debrief: St. Pauli ruin Hamburg's homecoming
St. Pauli were the stronger side going forward with 17 shots to their opponent's five, while they also generated an expected goals (xG) total of 1.43 to Hamburg's 0.48.
This was Hamburg's first home game back in the Bundesliga since their relegation in 2018, marking the end of a seven-year absence, but it was not to be on the day.
Hountondji made it two goals from two league games after netting last week against Dortmund, and he also had the joint-most touches in the opposition box against Hamburg with five in total.
