FC St. Pauli

After failing to claim their reward for a courageous fightback against Jahn Regensburg last time out, the Boys in Brown travelled to Fürth determined to bag three points to end a five-game run without a win. With this in mind, head coach Olaf Janßen made two changes to the starting lineup, Maurice Litka replacing Waldemar Sobota on the flank and Aziz Bouhaddouz making his first start up front in two months. That meant a return to a system with two strikers, resulting in Mats Møller Dæhli dropped to the bench.

Bouhaddouz's strike partner Sami Allagui was involved in the first attacking move of note when he chased a long pass from Cenk Sahin, only to see Fürth goalkeeper Sascha Burchert get to the ball just before him. Otherwise it was a very cautious opening quarter of an hour from both teams, with no chances at either end. The home side tried their luck several times from distance in the ensuing period, with Narey going closest in the 21^st minute with a shot that fizzed narrowly past the far post. Their best opportunity came four minutes later, however, when Green found Narey in the box and only a great reflex save from Robin Himmelmann prevented the opening goal.

The Boys in Brown were punished for their passivity at this stage of the game after 33 minutes. Raum created space with a body swerve just outside the area before slipping the ball to Maximilian Wittek on the left, and though Himmelmann got a glove to the right-back's powerful low drive, he was unable to stop it going in. With little coming off for Janßen's side going forward, there was little for the packed away section to cheer about for the remainder of the 45. On the contrary, the home side doubled their advantage on the stroke of half-time through Raum, who left Himmelmann no chance with a curling effort from the edge of the box.

As in the previous week against Regensburg, that left the Boys in Brown a two-goal deficit to chase. Janßen responded at the start of the second half by introducing Johannes Flum for Allagui to add more muscle in the centre of the park. The Boys in Brown announced their renewed attacking intent soon after the interval, but Litka's long-range attempt lacked the precision to trouble Burchert. Fürth, however, had lots of variation in their play and showed just why they had won their last two home games, making life difficult for the visitors with their aggressive pressing game. With an hour gone Flum sent Sahin clear with a clever pass, but Wittek was able to get back in time to block the shot.

Things went from bad to worse for Janßen's side on 63 minutes when referee Martin Thomsen found Nehrig, who had already been booked, guilty of a tactical foul and gave the St. Pauli captain his marching orders with a second yellow card. That opened up additional space for the Cloverleaves, which Levent Aycicek would have exploited in the 67^th minute had Himmelmann not got his hands up quickly to block his shot from a narrow angle. At the other end Bouhaddouz was suddenly presented with an opportunity to halve the deficit when Luca Zander stole the ball from Wittek and fed the Morocco striker, but Burchert came out quickly to make the save.

It could have been 2-1, but instead Narey put the home side well on the way to victory on 72, prodding the ball home two minutes after being denied by Himmelmann. Seven minutes later it was Green's turn to get his name on the scoresheet with Fürth's fourth goal after a solo run through the middle and a one-two with Raum.

In the closing stages Flum came close to grabbing a consolation goal before Fürth substitute Daniel Steininger hit the post at the other end. There was to be no addition to the scoreline, however, and referee Thomsen brought a one-sided contest to an end right on 90 minutes.

SpVgg Greuther Fürth

Burchert – Maloca, Caligiuri, Hilbert (Steininger 76'), Wittek – Gugganig, Pinter (Aycicek 30') – Narey, Raum (Dursun 82'), Sontheimer – Green

Head coach: Damir Buric

FC St. Pauli

Himmelmann – Zander, Avevor, Sobiech, Buballa – Nehrig – Sahin, Buchtmann, Litka (Møller Dæhli 65') – Bouhaddouz (Schneider 73'), Allagui (Flum 46')

Head coach: Olaf Janßen

Goals: 1-0 Wittek (33'), 2-0 Raum (45'), 3-0 Narey (72'), 4-0 Green (79')

Yellow cards: Pinter, Hilbert - Nehrig, Flum, Sobiech, Sahin

Red card (second yellow): Nehrig (63')

Referee: Dr Martin Thomsen

Attendance: 10,810

Photos: Witters