Borussia Dortmund have been eliminated from the DFB-Pokal last 16. The reigning champions lost 2-1 (2-0) away to Bundesliga 2 leaders FC St. Pauli.

Boris Rupert reporting from Hamburg

The 2,000 fans permitted watched as FC. St Pauli took full advantage of their limited goalscoring opportunities and went in at half-time 2-0 ahead thanks to Amenyido's strike (4) and a Witsel own goal (40). BVB, meanwhile, were unlucky with their finishing on several occasions but were generally not quick or clinical enough. Haaland pulled a goal back from the spot in the 58th minute, but a second goal would not come.

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The scenario:  
Second-place in the top flight versus first-place in the second tier. This was the 22nd competitive meeting between the clubs (15 BVB victories, four draws and two defeats prior to kick-off) and the second – after a 3-0 BVB win in 2014 – in the DFB-Pokal. St. Pauli had reached the last 16 by beating both Magdeburg and Dresden 3-2, while Dortmund had overcome Wiesbaden and Ingolstadt.

Personnel matters: 
Can (muscle injury) and Dahoud (back) were out of action and replaced by Akanji and Witsel compared to the team that faced Freiburg in the league on Friday. Hazard also began in place of Malen (bench). Morey and Schmelzer were still sidelined and not available. Reyna was not quite ready for his return, but Zagadou was back again.

Tactics:  
St. Pauli, who lined up in a 4-1-3-2 formation, looked to transition at speed and formed a compact defensive block, but consistently strove not to sit too deep in the process. They ran hard to ensure consistent cover and coordinated their pressing well. BVB were in their usual 4-3-3 system, with Witsel in the central role in front of the defence. Bellingham and Brandt sat either side of him, while Reus and Hazard frequently switched sides in the attacking triumvirate.

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The match & analysis:
The second-tier outfit took the lead with their first attack. A through-ball into the Dortmund box was cut back by Hartel towards Amenyido, who beat Reus to the ball, surged through on goal unstoppably and poked the ball home with three minutes on the clock. BVB were quickly presented with an opportunity to equalise. Bellingham threaded the ball through to Hazard, who went clean through on keeper Smarsch but could not go past him and Ohlsson cleared the loose ball behind for a corner (7).

All in all, however, Borussia were too pedestrian and did not play with enough purpose in the first half. There were rare exceptions – and then they immediately looked dangerous. Reus brought a dream pass by Hummels under control brilliantly and went through on Smarsch like Hazard before him, but also came away second best (18). Two minutes later, Haaland rounded the goalie in the box but his shot from a tight angle was turned behind for a corner by Paqarada.

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The Black & Yellows registered 67% possession in the opening half, but needed to be quicker and sharper to carve open additional gilt-edged opportunities. Instead, St. Pauli converted their second chance to double their advantage, with Witsel unluckily turning Burgstaller's cross from the right into his own net.

Bellingham's volley directly after the restart gave cause for hope, then Kobel kept his team in the game at the other end when he clawed Burgstaller's header away from the corner and stopped Dortmund falling 3-0 behind (54). Shortly afterwards, Burgstaller struck the side-netting. Borussia then appealed for a penalty – initially in vain – after Medic handled Hummels' cross (56), but referee Osmers went over to the monitor to review the incident and pointed to the spot. Haaland slotted the ensuing penalty into the bottom right corner (58).

St. Pauli did not try to sit back on their lead but instead looked to carve open shooting opportunities more than they had before the interval. Borussia were dictating the tempo, though, and they created several dangerous moments in the hosts' box. But defenders managed to clear the ball from Bellingham and Reus at the last minute. There were still 20 minutes on the clock. Malen then hit the side-netting (78).

However, there were too many ups and downs from Borussia. Spells of pressure were interspersed with pedestrian passages of play and St. Pauli never really came under threat in the three minutes of stoppage time.

Outlook: 
Next up for BVB is a Bundesliga trip away to TSG Hoffenheim on Saturday (15:30 CET).

Teams & goals