St. Pauli’s Abdoulie Ceesay is a unique player to watch. While some of his actions may appear sporadic, it is clear that his talent is still raw, but he is developing into a very efficient striker. In St. Pauli’s 2. Bundesliga victory over Karlsruhe, the 22-year-old only registered one shot, but it was enough to get his name on the scoreboard.

His goal helped St. Pauli win the game, marking their second consecutive victory at the Millerntor Stadium this season. For Ceesay, that goal was his third of the campaign, and interestingly, those three goals came from only five shots on target, showing his efficiency.

Of the players who have scored at least three non-penalty goals in the 2. Bundesliga this season, only two have taken fewer shots than Ceesay, and none of them are strikers. While having fewer shots can be a bad sign for a striker, in Ceesay’s case this is not necessarily the case.

Firstly, he was injured at the start of the season, and when he returned, he did not immediately become a regular starter. So far, he has only started three games, playing 300 minutes in total. For context, none of the players who have scored at least three goals in the 2. Bundesliga have played fewer minutes than him. So, what is the key to his efficiency?

After the game against Karlsruhe, I asked Ceesay, who had a simple answer: “It’s just working hard every day, to be better every day. You keep practicing, keep trying, every day you wake up. So for me, this is what I do every day, and now it’s paying off.”

Well, it was indeed his development that helped him become a better striker and a better scorer. In the past season, he had to wait a long time not only to score his first competitive goal for St. Pauli, but also to play some competitive minutes.

Ceesay is still young at 22 years old. Before playing with St. Pauli, he only played in the Estonian First League. It was a big step up for him and he needed to adapt to German football, which is way more challenging than what he had experienced before.

During his development, he has learned how to maximise his strengths to fit into German football along the way. This means playing fast: He makes runs into space against defenders, and this is how he scored against Karlsruhe.