St Pauli earns point but Irvine misses chances
Australia's Jackson Irvine was left frustrated after missing gilt-edged chances in a 0-0 home draw for St Pauli against RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga.
While the result on paper was impressive for the newly-promoted hosts – shutting out one of the few remaining unbeaten teams in the league – it could have been so much better for the Boys in Brown had Irvine made the most of his opportunities.
The first came in the 17th minute when he was found unmarked in the box, but he headed over the bar from six yards.
The Socceroos star had another chance with his head not long after the half-hour mark, but glanced this one narrowly wide of the far post.
St Pauli was thankful to goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj in the 50th minute when he superbly clawed a long-range shot from Xavi Simons over the crossbar.
Seven minutes later, Irvine had another sight of goal but shot wide once again wiht a right-footed effort from the edge of the box.
Vasilj was called into action again and made more smart stops to keep St Pauli alive, twice denying Lois Openda low down on either side of his goal.
As the game moved into stoppage-time, St Pauli had one more excellent chance to take all three points when Irvine fed a perfect throughball to Scott Banks.
But the former Crystal Palace man fired wide of the far post and the points were shared.
