FC St. Pauli

Head coach Jos Luhukay made five changes to the side that drew 1-1 at Karlsruhe last time out. The injured Daniel Buballa and James Lawrence plus Rico Benatelli, Marvin Knoll and Luis Coordes made way for Luca Zander, Ryo Miyaichi and Johannes Flum, with Under-23 players Marvin Senger and Christian Viet handed their first-team debuts.

Both teams went into the game looking for the win that would move them clear of the drop zone. Wearing all black in memory of George Floyd, Jos Luhukay's side pushed forward in a lively opening before the home side began to probe, primarily from dead-ball situations. Set pieces have been a particular strength of the home side this season, who had netted 17 times in this fashion before the game started.

Yet when Bochum took the lead with a quarter of an hour gone, it was from a penalty rather than a corner or a free-kick. The ball was hit long and Leo Østigård made contact with the advancing Anthony Losilla in the box, prompting referee Florian Heft to point to the spot. Robert Zulj stepped up and converted to open the scoring. Bochum remained in the ascendency and fashioned the next chance on 24, though Robin Himmelmann was alert to the danger, diving low to his right to keep out a Milos Pantovic header.

The Boys in Brown struggled to make headway against a Bochum rearguard that has impressed since the resumption, and the first real chance was long in coming. Some nice passing play by Johannes Flum, Christian Viet and Dimitrios Diamantakos set up Waldemar Sobota, captain for the evening, but he was denied by a last-ditch challenge. Then, three minutes before the break, the Boys in Brown came within a whisker of levelling the scores. Ryo Miyaichi capitalised on a loose Bochum pass and let fly from 22 metres, only to see the ball strike the angle of bar and post.

It could have been two for the home side in time added on when Manuel Wintzheimer found the net with a low drive. After going to VAR, however, the referee disallowed the goal for a handball by Danilo Soares when intercepting a Sobota pass. The first half thus ended with Bochum a goal to the good.

Robert Zulj, who joined Bochum from Hoffenheim during the winter break, keeps his nerve to give his side the lead on the quarter-hour.

Both sides emerged unchanged for the second half, with the Boys in Brown needing to step up a gear to avoid returning to Hamburg empty-handed for the first time in more than seven years. But Bochum remained a 'tough nut to crack', as Johannes Flum put it in the run-up, keeping things tight at the back while looking to get forward at every opportunity.

The first moment of danger came from a set piece five minutes after the restart. Danilo Soares dispatched a free-kick towards the far post and ball evaded everyone apart from Himmelmann, who flung himself to his right to keep it at 1-0. Just 60 seconds later Himmelmann was beaten for a third time, and again it was Wintzheimer who found the net. But as before the break, his joy was short-lived, as Pantovic had strayed offside, causing the goal to be disallowed.

Luhukay made his first two changes just before the hour mark, Rico Benatelli and Finn Ole Becker replacing Flum and Viet. The Boys in Brown began to carry more of a threat and soon carved out two decent opportunities within a minute. Ohlsson got foward to tee up Diamantakos, whose shot was blocked by Danilo Soares, and then Sobota mishit an effort from the edge of the box, allowing Riemann to gather safely. A third subsitution followed, Sobota making way for Maximilian Franzke.

With 72 minutes gone, Bochum threatened again through goalscorer Zulj, his deflected shot from 25 metres going behind for a corner: another set piece that would bring the home side a goal. Zulj delivered the ball to the back post, where Maxim Leitsch sneaked in unnoticed to score despite Himmelmann getting a hand to it. Luhukay responded with his last two changes, Christopher Avevor and Henk Veerman entering the fray for Senger and Miyaichi. For Avevor it was his first appearance after 308 days out with injury.

Though the Boys in Brown continued to push forward, the final ball lacked accuracy and they were unable to mount a serious threat. Whenever they did get into the box, there was always a Bochum defender in the way, as in the 88th minute, when Viktor Gyökeres saw a shot blocked. Becker almost pulled one back in stoppage time, his curling effort from the edge of the D only narrowly missing the target. Bochum substitute Silvere Ganvoula then hammered a shot wide before the referee blew his whistle one last time.

VfL Bochum

Riemann - Gamboa (Bella Kotchap 90'), Lampropoulos, Leitsch, Danilo - Losilla, Tesche (Eisfeld 66') - Osei-Tutu (Fabian 90'+3), Zulj, Pantovic - Wintzheimer (Ganvoula 66')

Head coach: Thomas Reis

FC St. Pauli

Himmelmann - Zander, Østigård, Senger (Avevor 73'), Ohlsson - Flum (Benatelli 58') - Miyaichi (Veerman 73'), Sobota (Franzke 66'), Viet (Becker 58'), Gyökeres - Diamantakos

Head coach: Jos Luhukay

Goals: 1-0 Zulj (pen. 15'), 2-0 Leitsch (73')

Yellow cards: Tesche, Osei-Tutu, Zulj - Østigård, Ohlsson

Referee: Florian Heft

Photos: VfL Bochum/Witters