FC St. Pauli

Markus Kauczinski's side ran out at Arminia Bielefeld tasked with delivering a repeat of the performance against Holstein Kiel but making better use of their chances in front of goal. The St. Pauli boss made just two changes to his team. Ryo Miyaichi returned to the side in place of Cenk Sahin after being rested against the Storks, while youngster Florian Carstens partnered Christopher Avevor in central defence instead of Philipp Ziereis, who was ill. Arminia coach Jeff Saibene, in contrast, responded to the midweek cup exit at the hands of Duisburg by making six changes to his starting lineup.

The home side went into the game carrying the burden of five competitive defeats in a row. With that in mind, the Boys in Brown braced themselves for an early onslaught and sure enough, it came. Arminia played their way into promising positions several times in the opening stages, especially down the left-hand side. And after Joan Edmundsson had guided a half-volley well wide in the fifth minute, Staude supplied the early goal they were looking for two minutes later. Avevor's attempted clearance fell straight to the midfielder, who found the bottom corner with a low drive from the edge of the box.

Kauczinski's charges looked to hit back immediately and Sami Allagui had the ball in the net on 12, only to be pulled back for offside. Arminia took the foot off the gas slightly but registered another attempt on goal from Julian Börner on 18. Only midway through the half did the Boys in Brown start to get something of a grip on the proceedings. The first move of any promise ended with Johannes Flum forcing a fine save from Philipp Klewin from just inside the area.

Arminia continued to fight for every ball and looked to get forward whenever they won possession. The Boys in Brown rode their luck a little when shots in quick succession from Fabian Klos and Staude lacked the necessary precision. A series of injury stoppages then interrupted the flow of the game until just before the interval, when the Boys in Brown stepped up a gear and Klewin somehow managed to keep out a swerving effort from Richard Neudecker on 42. The resulting corner came to nothing, ensuring Bielefeld went in at the break a goal to the good.

Kauczinski bolstered his attack for the second period with the introduction of Henk Veerman for Miyaichi. It was the hosts who threatened first, however, when Staude tested Himmelmann again on 48. The Boys in Brown hit back straightaway. And when Stephan Salger stuck out a leg in an attempt to stop Jeremy Dudziak, the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Knoll didn't need to be asked twice and stepped up to convert the penalty with aplomb to make it 1-1.

Five minutes later the midfielder could have given his side the lead from a free-kick just outside the box, but Klewin was wise to the danger and made a fine save diving to his right. The Boys in Brown did find themselves in front 60 seconds later, however. When the ball was launched long into the penalty area, Veerman chested it down into the path of Møller Dæhli, who prodded a shot into the far corner.

At the other end, substitute Andreas Voglsammer tried his luck with a shot on the turn. The ball took a deflection and Himmelmann produced a superb reflex save to prevent the equaliser. It was end-to-end stuff by now and Neudecker was unlucky not to add a third on 66 when he ran onto Veerman's flick-on and chipped the ball over the keeper, only to see it come back off the crossbar.

Jeff Saibene's side threw everything forward with increasing desperation in the closing stages, but the Boys in Brown remained focused at the back and repeatedly popped up in the Bielefeld box, as in the 78^th minute, when Møller Dæhli's attempted drive lacked power. The home side continued to besiege Robin Himmelmann's goal, yet the St. Pauli custodian was troubled just the once when forced to stretch to keep out Patrick Weihrauch's drive in the 90^th minute.

In stoppage time, when Bielefeld keeper Klewin went up for every corner and free-kick, Ersin Zehir and Mats Møller Dæhli had chances to put the game to bed with attempts from the halfway line, but both efforts fell short. No matter, though, because the referee blew the final whistle soon after to put the seal on the first St. Pauli victory at the Alm in 22 years, a win that puts the Boys in Brown top of the table overnight.

Arminia Bielefeld

Klewin - Schütz, Salger, Börner, Lucoqui - Staude, Prietl (Massimo 82') - Edmundsson, Brunner (Owusu 69') - Weihrauch, Klos (Voglsammer 57')

Head coach: Jeff Saibene

FC St. Pauli

Himmelmann – Dudziak, Carstens, Avevor, Buballa – Flum (Zehir 74'), Knoll – Miyaichi (Veerman 46'), Møller Dæhli, Neudecker - Allagui (Nehrig 89')

Head coach: Markus Kauczinski

Goals: 1-0 Staude (7'), 1-1 Knoll (49'), 1-2 Møller Dæhli (56')

Yellow cards: Staude, Klos, Lucoqui – Nehrig, Møller Dæhli

Referee: Benedikt Kempkes

Attendance: 22.446

Photos: Witters