Borussia Dortmund 3-2 St. Pauli: Can´s stoppage-time penalty keeps Kovac´s side in the hunt

Emre Can’s last-gasp penalty noticed Borussia Dortmund edge to a 3-2 victory over St. Pauli, holding some strain on Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich.

Niko Kovac’s aspect appeared set to rue a missed likelihood after throwing away a two-goal lead, however Can’s Ninety fifth-minute spot-kick moved them to inside eight factors of Bayern, who go to RB Leipzig in a while Saturday.

St. Pauli thought that they had a Nineteenth-minute penalty of their very own, just for the VAR to intervene and overturn an on-field name for handball in opposition to Dortmund striker Fabio Silva.

Gregor Kobel then smothered Mathias Pereira’s close-range effort earlier than Dortmund made their likelihood depend on the different finish.

Silva initially missed the ball from Karim Adeyemi’s, however Julian Brandt was readily available for a easy tap-in to ship the hosts forward on the stroke of half-time.

Adeyemi doubled Dortmund’s lead early within the second half, steering Silva’s selfless move into an unguarded internet, although the hosts quickly fell aside.

James Sands outjumped Can to go residence Eric Smith’s nook within the 62nd minute, earlier than St. Pauli’s captain supplied his second help when he teed up substitute Ricky-Jade Jones to volley the Bundesliga’s backside membership degree 10 minutes later.

However Dortmund had the final snicker as Jones felled Maximilian Beier, with Can holding his cool within the dying seconds to save lots of Kovac’s crew.

THE WEEKEND IS SAVED!!!! pic.twitter.com/PSVyoTaLgR

— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) January 17, 2026

Knowledge Debrief: Dortmund scrape by way of

Dortmund headed into this conflict with essentially the most clear sheets within the competitors this season (9), however Kovac’s aspect had been left wanting on the again within the second half.

It appeared set to be extra frustration for the house aspect, who amassed a large 3.09 anticipated targets (xG) to St. Pauli’s meagre 0.54, earlier than Can capitalised on Jones’ last-minute error.

And whereas Kovac will probably be dissatisfied with the defensive efficiency, he should still discover positives in Brandt, who has scored in 4 consecutive residence matches for the primary time in his Bundesliga profession.