Boukhalfa and Smith hail “incredible performance” against Leverkusen

Alexander Blessin’s team fought tooth and nail for a richly deserved point against the reigning Bundesliga champions.

FC St.Pauli’s heroic goal-scorer Carlo Boukhalfa snatched a point for the Hanseatic club and expressed his delight regarding the team’s efforts as they battled for a point against Bayer Leverkusen this evening

“It feels great to have taken a point against opposition of that calibre. The fans were amazing today, which was really motivating. It’s normal for Leverkusen to create chances with the quality they have. They’re very streetwise, as we saw today, but we coped well.

“We were very energised and showed morale to come back after going behind. I have to take my hat off to the lads who played today for the way they performed.

“It was a special game for me. I was delighted to play and score again after such a long time out of the first team. We’ve seen it all in football, so we aren’t safe yet. We’ll keep going,” said 25-year-old midfielder.

St.Pauli’s Swedish centre-half Eric Smith chimed in with what he described as “an incredible performance” despite some noticable absentees through injury. 

“We’re missing two of our best players in Karol Mets and Jackson Irvine and yet we still managed to put in a performance like that. We showed character and the lads who came on were superb,” Smith added.