Hamburg – This template alone was worth the entrance fee! With his dream pass on the goalscorer Connor Metcalfe (24) Eric Smith (26) laid the foundation for the 1-0 home win of the FC St. Pauli placed over 1. FC Kaiserslautern.
Eric Smith (26) paved the way for FC St. Pauli to win over 1. FC Kaiserslautern with his no-look pass to make it 1-0. © Imago / Eibner
Two days after his contract extension, everyone involved talked about the Swede’s no-look pass before the winning goal. Coach Fabian Hürzeler (29) called it a “brilliant moment”, teammate Marcel Hartel (27) found the preliminary work “outstanding”, but didn’t know that “he gets something like that out of his ankle”.
It was 72 minutes at the Millerntor when Smith, with a flash of inspiration, played a chip ball behind the Lauterer defense line, which Metcalfe completed with a left into the far corner.
“I’m happy that it worked out and Connor scored,” said the Swede after the game, pointing out that Metcalfe and winter newcomer Oladapo Afolayan (25) would make these runs “500 times”.
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With his stroke of genius, the Kiezkicker celebrated their third clean sheet win in a row – that was last in April 2007. “If you keep a clean sheet in this league, you can score a lot of points,” said the 26-year-old. “That’s what we’ve focused on and we’re doing really well at the moment.”
The Swede also showed a strong fighting performance against Kaiserslautern around attacker Terrence Boyd. © Daniel Reinhardt/dpa
It was well known that St. Pauli can not only keep up in terms of football. They also showed a fighting spirit against Kaiserslautern. “I’m very happy that we were able to show our other qualities as well,” said the defensive player.
With the nine points from the three games in the second half of the season, the Kiezkicker got some breathing room in the close relegation battle of the second division. “We’re in good form, but we haven’t achieved anything yet,” Smith warned and clarified. “We put ourselves in this situation and it’s our job to get out of it.”
Smith is leading the way, not only on the pitch but also through his contract extension. “My wife and I love it here. The city, the club and what it stands for. We don’t want to be anywhere else but here,” he said on NDR.
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Words that those responsible should take with goodwill. Because the Swede has developed into a real top performer and leading player at the Millerntor.
“Eric has not only improved on the pitch, but also as a person, as a personality. He has matured into a leader, a quiet leader who is not perceived as such,” explained coach Hürzeler.
