St. Pauli has fought, toiled, tried everything – and ultimately celebrated. Against RB Leipzig, the team secured a point late on at the Millerntor with a 1-1 draw (0-0).
RB Leipzig took the lead in the rescheduled matchday 16 game on Tuesday evening (January 27, 2026) with Yan Diomande scoring in the 66th minute. The Ivorian scored a stunning goal from around 17 meters out. In stoppage time, substitute Martijn Kaars equalized from the penalty spot after being fouled himself. With the draw, RB remains in fourth place in the table. St. Pauli continues to struggle at the bottom, currently in 17th place.
“All in all, it was a deserved point,” said Leipzig coach Ole Werner. “We needed to play faster and with fewer mistakes to win.” St. Pauli coach Alexander Blessin said: “We stood defensively very well, defended well and set good needles. The draw was fully deserved. Under the motto ‘Slowly but surely’ we are currently collecting our points.”
New Signing Rasmussen Not Yet Ready
They had high hopes for him, but: Mathias Rasmussen wasn’t quite ready. The 28-year-old Norwegian, who St. Pauli recently signed from Belgian club Saint Gilloise, was hampered by stomach problems and had to sit this one out. Instead, coach Alexander Blessin brought on the ultra-fast Ricky Jade-Jones as the sole striker – St. Pauli wanted to come to success via counter-attacking football against a presumably very dominant Leipzig.
Ricky Jade-Jones is the fastest player in Bundesliga history.
But Leipzig knows how to deal with very defensively positioned opponents – most recently proven by the dominant 3-0 win at 1. FC Heidenheim. Accordingly, coach Ole Werner sent out the exact same starting eleven as last time. And they didn’t disappoint their coach.
St. Pauli’s Jade Jones Loses His Cool Up Front
Against aggressively starting hosts, who presented themselves much more active and gripping than in the disappointing 0-0 draw against HSV, RB held their own and set the first exclamation mark. After just eight minutes, Xaver Schlager’s shot from 22 meters crashed against the right post. Six minutes later, Romulo and Schlager again had a shooting chance a few meters in front of the goal, but were blocked each time.
But St. Pauli also played their part. The Hamburg team showed a completely different body language than recently, delivering a courageous fight against the playfully superior Leipzig. This fight enabled Jade-Jones to have a huge chance for the 1-0 lead in the 18th minute, when he ran alone on the Leipzig goal after winning the ball in midfield, but was overtaken by Willi Orban. Two minutes later, the almost identical scene, this time the 23-year-old shot – nerves seemed to get the better of him – narrowly past the post on the right.
Frustrated with himself: St. Pauli’s Ricky Jade-Jones
Leipzig Misses Chances Shortly Before Half-Time
The game remained balanced in the second half – with the same personnel. And the problem area for the hosts remained the same: up to the penalty area, everything looked good, they delivered a duel at eye level with Leipzig. But as soon as it got closer to the goal, the actions became erratic. RB had the clearer chances. In the 55th minute, Romulo headed from eleven meters narrowly to the left.
Diomande Wakes Up – Great Goal to Make it 0-1
Diomande had been disappointing for RB until then, along with the two wingers Nusa and Diomande, who hadn’t really shown anything on this evening. But players with such quality are always capable of making the difference. Diomande proved this in the 66th minute. After a short clearance from a corner kick, the Ivorian took his heart in his hand from 17 meters and shot the ball – slightly deflected – unstoppable into the left corner.
Yan Diamonde is largely inconspicuous and then still scores the 0-1.
St. Pauli threw everything forward again. With the substituted Jackson Irvine and new signing Rasmussen, fresh impetus came. The biggest chance had Irvine in the 89th minute, after work from Martijn Kaars, eight meters in front of the goal, but stepped over the ball. Hardly anyone believed it anymore, Kaars managed to equalize: In stoppage time, Leipzig’s David Raum slipped unluckily into the legs of Kaars – penalty. Kaars converted it safely to a deserved 1-1 in the end.
St. Pauli in Augsburg, Leipzig against Mainz
This is what’s next for both teams: St. Pauli will be at FC Augsburg on Saturday afternoon (3:30 p.m.). Leipzig will host Mainz 05 on Saturday afternoon (3:30 p.m.)
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