FC St. Pauli

One week after the terrific victory in the derby, the task facing the Boys in Brown was to repeat that performance and get another result. With this in mind, head coach Jos Luhukay opted for much the same team. Marvin Knoll was the only change, getting the nod over Finn Ole Becker in midfield.

The first few minutes proved relatively uneventful even though both teams showed a desire to get stuck in from the outset. Jos Luhukay's side dominated the possession, but the visitors stifled their build-up play with aplomb. The only incident of note in the opening stages was thus an attempt by Marvin Knoll, who steered a shot past Philipp Kühn's goal with five minutes gone. St. Pauli continued to make the play, with Osnabrück content to sit back and wait for a chance to break.

In the 18th minute the home crowd rose in anticipation of a goal when Ryo Miyaichi did brilliantly to force his way to the byeline and pick out Dimitrios Diamantakos in front of goal. Caught slightly off balance, however, the No18 was unable to make a proper contact and his attempt flew over the crossbar. A shame, as that could well have been the opening goal. At the other end, Robin Himmelmann was called into action for the first time on 22 minutes, though Moritz Heyer's header was easy meat for the keeper.

Five minutes after the initial warning shot, the Millerntor finally erupted when Henk Veerman met a Marvin Knoll corner with his head at the back post. The goal was the reward for a committed performance in the opening stages in which the players left no one in any doubt that they were determined to build on the derby win. Admittedly, the action slowed down somewhat after the opening goal, but Waldemar Sobota soon had the Millerntor rocking again. After a fine solo run through the Osnabrück midfield, he produced a clever finish into the bottom corner to send the Millerntor into raptures for a second time on this Sunday afternoon.

Henk Veerman heads the opening goal

The Boys in Brown made one change at half-time, Veerman staying in the dressing room to be replaced by Borys Tashchy. For the visitors, Osnabrück coach Thioune sought to inject some momentum with the introduction of Sven Köhler for Ulrich Taffertshofer.

Yet it was Diamantakos who unleashed the momentum just three minutes after the restart. And how! Knoll was played in by a clever ball down the left and the midfielder kept his head up, spotting the advancing striker in the Osnabrück box. Diamantakos had gone close in the first half but this time he kept cool and netted with a crisp drive to make it 3-0. A magnificent start to the second half. Anyone who thought the visitors would let their heads drop, however, was sorely mistaken. And all hands were needed on the pump minutes later to prevent them pulling one back.

It remained a hugely exciting affair. A superb counterattack involving Rico Benatelli, Diamantakos and Sobota ended with what looked like the fourth goal, but referee Daniel Siebert correctly ruled it out for a handball by Sobota, who had lost his balance en route to goal and stopped the ball with his hand in falling. It wasn't to be the last break by the Boys in Brown. In the 67th minute, Knoll sent substitute Borys Tashchy on his way. He took the ball past a defender and went for goal from a narrow angle, but keeper Kühn stuck out a leg and made the save.

The visitors refused to lie down despite being three goals down and continued to attack Himmelmann's goal. And Osnabrück's tenacity eventually paid off when a miscued shot deflected off Ajdini's thigh into the net and suddenly there were only two goals in it. This marked the start of a final onslaught by the visitors from Lower Saxony, but they were unable to do anything about the scoreline, leaving the Boys in Brown to celebrate a 3-1 victory.

FC St. Pauli

Himmelmann - Østigård, Buballa, Ohlsson - Benatelli (Flum 65'), Knoll - Miyaichi, Sobota, Penney - Veerman (Tashchy 46'), Diamantakos (Gyökeres 77')

Head coach: Jos Luhukay

VfL Osnabrück

Kühn - Heyer, Ajdini, Taffertshofer (Köhler 46'), Ouahim (Alvarez 65'), van Aken, Trapp, Blacha, Agu, Henning, Girth

Head coach: Daniel Thioune

Goals: 1-0 (Veerman 23'), 2-0 (Sobota 35'), 3-0 (Diamantakos 48'), 3-1 (Ajdani 76')

Yellow cards: Ohlsson - Taffertshofer

Referee: Daniel Siebert

Attendance: 29,546

Photos: Witters