FC St. Pauli

Head coach Fabian Hürzeler made three changes to the side that began in the cup against Fortuna Düsseldorf in midweek. Nikola Vasilj returned between the posts, while Manolis Saliakas and Elias Saad got the nod over Lars Ritzka and Etienne Amenyido. Fürth boss Alexander Zorniger went with the same 11 players who started in the 2-1 home win over Holstein Kiel last week.

The Boys in Brown came flying out of the traps in the Hamburg drizzle and forced two corners in the opening 60 seconds, the second of which saw Hauke Wahl test Fürth keeper Jonas Urbig with a close-range header. Within a minute, Dapo Afolayan hit the underside of the crossbar with another header. No signs of any ill-effects, then, after 120 energy-sapping minutes in the DFB Cup on Tuesday night. Fürth popped up in front of Nikola Vasilj's goal for the first time in the 13^th minute, but the St. Pauli shotstopper was alert to the danger and produced a fine reflex save to deny Tim Lemperle. Johannes Eggestein then had a golden opportunity to open the scoring from Elias Saad's square ball on 17, but his shot was too centrally placed and flew straight to Urbig. Just three minutes later, Urbig got the better of Eggestein again, but the Fürth keeper had much more to do to keep the ball out this time, as he continued his impressive form of late.

Despite the profligacy, there were grounds for optimism, not least because the visitors, who came to the Millerntor unbeaten in nine league games, were practically anonymous in attack apart from the one chance for Lemperle, something that was also down to the dominance and tenacity in the tackle of the Boys in Brown. And with half an hour gone, Urbig was finally beaten when Philipp Treu's shot from the edge of the box proved to hot to handle for the Fürth custodian and Elias Saad followed up on the rebound to give his side a deserved lead.

The Franconians were forced to respond and began to press early, which opened up space for the Hürzeler XI, who switched the play in textbook fashion in the 33^rd minute and doubled their advantage with a deflected effort from Dapo Afolayan. The visitors showed just why they have climbed to second spot in the table just before the interval, however, when Armindo Sieb reduced the deficit with an awkward bouncing shot. Amid a late Fürth onslaught, Manolis Saliakas unleashed a piledriver from a good 20 minutes that produced another excellent save from Urbig, and the two sides went in at half-time with the scoreline at 2-1.

An ecstatic Dapo Afolayan celebrates after giving his side a 2-0 lead against Fürth on 33 minutes.

The two teams emerged unchanged for the second period. What did change, however, was the approach of the visitors, who displayed more attacking adventure from the off and increased their share of the possession. That put the Hürzeler XI to the test in defence, and on 59 they could only look on as Simon Asta latched onto a through ball from Branimir Hrgota to smash an unstoppable shot beyond Vasilj and into the far corner to level the scores. 

It had been such a promising start from the Boys in Brown, but now they found themselves back at square one. And it was Fürth who were in the ascendency and created the next opportunity for their skipper, but Hrgota sliced his shot well past the angle. Hürzeler responded with his first substitution, introducing Etienne Amenyido for Eggestein. Philipp Treu tested Urbig for the first time since the restart in the 67^th minute, but the Fürth keeper got down low to gather. Another effort from Saad pointed towards a potential late rally from the home side despite a series of niggling stoppages that disrupted the flow of play to the advantage of the visitors.

Yet the home side refused to give up and got their reward for a courageous performance nine minutes time following a successful press. The visitors were unable to clear their lines and a first-time pass found Elias Saad, who wasted no time in angling a powerful drive into the far corner with Urbig well beaten. Fürth threw everyone forward in the closing stages, which gave the Hürzeler XI opportunities to put the game to bed. But there was to be no further addition to the score, and it ended 3-2 to the Boys in Brown, who bounced back from the disappointment of cup elimination in midweek and remain unbeaten in the league.

FC St. Pauli

Vasilj - Wahl, Smith, Mets - Saliakas (Dźwigała  87'), Kemlein, Hartel, Treu - Afolayan (Boukhalfa 78'), Eggestein (Amenyido 65'), Saad (Ritzka 87')

Head coach: Fabian Hürzeler

Greuther Fürth

Urbig - Jung, Michalski (Meyerhöfer 68'), Dietz, Petkov (Haddadi 35') - Asta, Wagner (Consbruch 83'), Green, - Hrgota - Sieb (Popp 83'), Lemperle (Srbeny 68')

Head coach: Alexander Zorniger

Goals: 1-0 Saad (30'), 2-0 Afolayan (33'), 2-1 Sieb (44'), 2-2 Asta (59'), 3-2 Saad (81')

Yellow cards: Afolayan – Hrgota, Haddadi

Referee: Florian Exner (Münster)

Attendance: 29,035

Photos: FC St. Pauli