Socceroo Irvine leads St Pauli to first Bundesliga win
It has taken him five matches but Socceroos midfielder Jackson Irvine, the Australian player with a cult following himself at Germany’s cult club, has finally captained St Pauli to their first Bundesliga triumph of the season.
More than that, the 3-0 victory at Freiburg on Saturday was the first for the Hamburg-based club in Germany’s top-flight for 13 years after their long-awaited return to the Bundesliga.
Irvine celebrated his big day by getting an assist for the final goal in the 72nd minute.
Yet he would be the first to admit Elias Saad deserved all the glory himself with a brilliant individual goal, his second of the match, that featured the Tunisian international powering past four Freiburg defenders before netting.
Irvine wasn’t the only Australian celebrating, as his fellow Socceroo midfielder Connor Metclafe came on as sub after halftime to also play his part in the triumph which has thrust St Pauli out of the relegation zone up to 14th in the table after their poor start to the campaign.
St Pauli had secured promotion under Irvine’s leadership as second-division champions last season, returning to the top division for the first time since they got relegated in 2011.
Famed for their alternative outlook on soccer and for their supporters’ left-wing leanings, St Pauli see the flamboyant Irvine, a very different character himself, as a leader who’s perfectly in tune with both the club and its ideals.
The big match of the day in Germany came later on Saturday, though, as the top-of-the-table affair between leaders Bayern Munich and champions Bayer Leverkusen ended in a 1-1 draw.
The deposed champions Bayern dominated the contest but couldn’t find a winner as their six-game winning start to the season across all competitions was ended.
But Vincent Kompany’s Bavarian giants will take more from the draw than Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen, who’ve quickly lost a touch of their aura since their remarkable unbeaten season ended Bayern’s 11-year reign.
Bayern dominated the opening half-hour, only for Leverkusen’s combative midfielder Robert Andrich to shoot them ahead – the first time Bayern have fallen behind in a game since Belgian Kompany took over as coach.
Andrich was booked a minute later for a tackle on ace marksman Harry Kane, who would, remarkably, go on to finish without a shot at goal.
But Aleksandar Pavlovic deservedly equalised in the 39th with a brilliant strike from outside the penalty area, but though Serge Gnabry hit the post, then the crossbar, after the break, Bayern’s 100 per cent season’s record evaporated.
Germany forward Deniz Undav scored deep in stoppage time to salvage a 2-2 draw for 10-man Stuttgart at Wolfsburg, while Tomas Cvancara also scored late to give Borussia Monchengladbach a 1-0 win over Union Berlin.
Heidenheim enjoyed a 2-0 win in Mainz, where both teams finished with 10 men, and Leipzig coasted to a 4-0 win over visiting Augsburg.
With agencies
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