FC St. Pauli

Head coach Alexander Blessin made two changes to the side that lost by the only goal against Bayern Munich last time out. Fit-again Philipp Treu returned to the starting lineup in place of Lars Ritzka, while David Nemeth deputised for Karol Mets, who tweaked a patellar tendon while on international duty. In Marwin Schmitz, Emil Staugaard and Julien Yanda, the squad also included three representatives of the Under-23s and Under-19s. Blessin's counterpart Gerardo Seoane saw no reason to change anything and went with the same 11 players who secured a scoreless draw against Leipzig two weeks ago.

In a cautious opening, the home side had more of the play as they looked to control the proceedings. Not until the 11^th minute did they threaten, however, when Ko Itakura popped up at the back post from a corner and directed a bouncing header just over the crossbar. The Foals stepped up the pressure and took the lead two minutes later from the third corner of the game. Marvin Friedrich headed on Julian Weigl's ball in for Alassane Plea to convert at the far post.

Gladbach dropped back a little in the ensuing period and this opened up more space for the Boys in Brown to push forward, space they were unable to exploit, however. Instead, it was the home side who fashioned the next big chance on 22 minutes when Plea overran the brown-and-white rearguard, took the ball round Nikola Vasilj and was left with the simple task of sliding the ball into the empty net, but David Nemeth scrambled back just in time to clear before it could cross the line.

The Blessin XI continued to struggle when it came to creating changes. A long-range drive from Oladapo Afolayan on 31 was blocked, and another distance effort from Manolis Saliakas six minutes later went wide. And just before the interval, Borussia struck again in clinical fashion, Kleindienst running onto a through ball from Hack and chipping the ball over Vasilj and into the net to give the hosts a two-goal lead.

Carlo Boukhalfa fights for the ball with Ko Itakura.

Borussia made the better start again after the interval. A counterattack was spread wide to the unmarked Ullrich on the left by Plea, but his shot cleared the crossbar. From that moment the Boys in Brown began to show more initiative and repeatedly came within the vicinity of the box, but all too often the final ball was lacking. Irvine headed off target on 58, and Saliakas saw a shot blocked three minutes later.

The Foals probed again and after a quick transition Franck Honorat went for goal from around 20 metres out and the ball fizzed just past the post. Another counter was defused at the last minute when Nemeth blocked a shot from Neuhaus. Perhaps the biggest chance for the Boys in Brown was missed by Morgan Guilavogui when he headed just over from close range. It wouldn't have counted in any case, as there was an offside.

Honorat then had an opportunity to add a third for the home side ten minutes from time, but his promising attempt was blocked. The Blessin XI rallied again and created some fantastic chances in the closing stages, but Saliakas, Guilavogui, Treu, Irvine and Wahl were unable to take any of them. It simply wasn't to be for the Boys in Brown on this evening.

Borussia Mönchengladbach

Nicolas - Itakura, Friedrich, Ullrich (Chiarodia 66'), Scally (Lainer 21') - Weigl, Reitz (Sander 90') - Honorat, Plea (Neuhaus 66'), Hack (Stöger 66') – Kleindienst

Head coach: Gerardo Seoane

FC St. Pauli

Vasilj - Wahl, Smith, Nemeth - Saliakas, Irvine, Boukhalfa (Sinani 83'), Treu - Afolayan, Eggestein (Ahlstrand 68'), Guilavogui (Albers 90')

Head coach: Alexander Blessin

Goals: 1-0 Plea (13'), 2-0 Kleindienst (44')

Yellow cards: Ullrich

Referee: Robin Braun (Wuppertal)

Attendance: 54,042 (sold out)

Photos: FC St. Pauli