FC St. Pauli

St. Pauli went into the game looking to make in three wins in a row. With one eye on the busy schedule ahead, head coach Olaf Janßen made several changes to the team that won 1-0 at Nürnberg on Monday night. Luca Zander made his first start for the club, while Cenk Sahin and fit-again Aziz Bouhaddouz returned to the side. Lasse Sobiech also featured in the squad.

The centre-back could only look on from the bench as his teammates got off to the worst possible start. Just five minutes in Marc Hornschuh brought down Dario Lezcano just outside the box. Sonny Kittel stepped up to take the free-kick and curled the ball over the defensive wall and into the net to give his side an early lead.

After two games without conceding, the Boys in Brown now found themselves with some work to do. The best chance to level the scores fell to Bernd Nehrig in the 19^th minute after some fine work on the right by Zander, but the skipper was unable to get enough direction on his header. In contrast, the visitors showed clinical efficiency in front of goal to double their lead after 33 minutes. Nehrig tracked back well to steal the ball from Thomas Pledl, but in doing so he unintentionally teed up Christian Träsch, who maintained his composure to beat Himmelmann with a low drive into the far corner.

The Boys in Brown seemed a little shell-shocked against a side expected to be strong contenders for promotion before the season kicked off. Ingolstadt showed no signs of their indifferent start to the season and extended their lead before half-time through goals by Lezcano after 40 minutes and Kittel in time added on. The fourth came moments after Bouhaddouz had missed an opportunity to reduce the deficit with a close-range header.

For all their endeavour, the Boys in Brown found themselves 4-0 behind at the break against a clinical Ingolstadt side.

There was plenty for Janßen and his coaching team to do during the interval, then. The St. Pauli boss added another striker in Sami Allagui for Johannes Flum and switched to a 4-4-2 formation with a midfield diamond. Nevertheless, the visitors had the better of things in the opening minutes, fashioning opportunities for Max Christiansen on 48 and Pledl three minutes later. At the other end, Zander tested FCI keeper Ørjan Nyland in the 63^rd minute when he stretched to divert a Sahin pass towards goal.

In the closing stages the visitors protected their lead with aplomb, without venturing into the danger zone too often. Janßen's side endeavoured to reduce the deficit throughout but lacked the necessary punch in attack. The best opportunity fell to Allagui after a decent headed knockdown by Jan-Marc Schneider on 74, but his shot flew narrowly wide. It thus stayed at 4-0, for which the Boys in Brown have an early opportunity to make amends at Holstein Kiel on Tuesday evening.

FC St. Pauli

Himmelmann – Zander, Avevor, Hornschuh (Sobiech 69'), Dudziak – Nehrig, Flum (Allagui 46') – Sahin, Litka, Sobota – Bouhaddouz (Schneider 62')

Head coach: Olaf Janßen

FC Ingolstadt 04

Nyland – Träsch (Levels 74'), Matip, Wahl, Gaus – Cohen, Christiansen – Morales (Schröck 25') – Pledl (Paulo Otavio 83'), Kittel – Lezcano

Head coach: Stefan Leitl

Goals: 0-1 Kittel (6'), 0-2 Träsch (33'), 0-3 Lezcano (40'), 0-4 Kittel (45'+3)

Referee: Robert Schröder

Yellow cards: Wahl, Matip, Gaus, Kittel, Christiansen (all Ingolstadt)

Attendance: 29,380

Photos: Witters