FC St. Pauli

Head coach Timo Schultz named an unchanged side from last week's 2-2 draw with Paderborn, though there was a place in the squad for attacking midfielder Daniel-Kofi Kyereh for the first time since he recovered from the muscle injury he sustained at the Africa Cup of Nations. Regensburg coach Mersad Selimbegović made three adjustments to the team that lost 2-1 at Schalke last time out, Benedikt Saller, Scott Kennedy and Nicklas Shipnoski coming in for Konrad Faber, Jan Elvedi and Erik Wekesser, who all began on the bench.

Both teams looked to get forward from the off, with the first chance falling to the Boys in Brown, who have been very prolific in the opening quarter of an hour this season. Guido Burgstaller pulled the trigger from 20 metres, but Alexander Meyer reacted quickly to turn his powerfully struck shot over the bar. There was nothing the SSV keeper could do four minutes later, however, when the unmarked Etienne Amenyido converted a cross from Leart Paqarada from seven metres. It went to VAR, but the goal was allowed to stand. One-nil! And there was more to come. Amenyido latched onto a pass from Dittgen and knocked the ball past Meyer before being brought down by the Regensburg custodian. The referee pointed to the spot and Burgstaller stepped up to send the keeper the wrong way with the penalty. Two-nil after 11 minutes – what a start!

It could have been three on the quarter-hour when the fleet-footed Maximilian Dittgen got away from the home defence in pursuit of a fantastic Luca Zander pass and took the ball round Meyer before cutting it back to Burgstaller from the byeline. Frustratingly, the ball took a bobble just before the Austrian went for goal and flew high over the crossbar. The hosts were clearly unsettled by the early onslaught, but gradually stepped up their attacking efforts, albeit without a tangible outcome because the Schultz XI stood firm and gave nothing away at the back. On the odd occasion Regensburg did find a way through, there was always a brown-and-white shirt in the way, as when Zander thwarted Andreas Albers on 27 minutes. Sixty seconds later Max Besuschkow tried his luck from range – his looping shot came down too late, however.

A comedy of errors was then played out at the other end. A mistake in the Regensburg defence let in Amenyido, who was denied by Meyer with just the keeper to beat. The ball fell to Jackson Irvine, whose attempted lob over Meyer skidded off the surface, causing Steve Breitkreuz to miss his attempted clearance completely. It was of no import, however, as the Australian's effort trundled a metre wide of the far post.

With 37 minutes gone, Nicklas Shipnoski headed a free-kick wide before the Boys in Brown broke quickly through Burgstaller. He knocked the ball wide to Marcel Hartel, whose cross was headed towards goal by the Austrian. Meyer parried the ball and then just managed to pull it back before it crossed the line. And after Nikola Vasilj had dealt with an 18-metre drive from Sarpreet Singh, the referee blew his whistle to send the Boys in Brown in two goals to the good at the break.

Guido Burgstaller kept a cool head to score from the spot, having already converted penalties against Dresden and Karlsruhe.

The Boys in Brown emerged unchanged for the second half, with the hosts making two changes, Konrad Faber and David Otto replacing Benedikt Saller and Nicklas Shipnoski. Regensburg fashioned a half chance four minutes in, but Otto's header from a free-kick went well wide. The home side stepped up the pressure, presenting the Schultz XI with opportunities to hit them on the break, as in the 51^st minute when Dittgen won possession to launch a rapid-fire raid down the left. Paqarada slipped the ball through to the advancing Hartel, but his shot from just inside the box fizzed well off target.

With 56 minutes gone, however, Regensburg pulled a goal back, almost inevitably from a set piece after Vasilj had turned a mishit Faber cross over the bar and then saved a Breitkreuz header from the resulting corner. The Bosnian shot-stopper was powerless to keep out an Andreas Albers header from another corner moments later, however. Timo Schultz responded with his first two substitutions, introducing Daniel-Kofi Kyereh for Etienne Amenyido and then Adam Dźwigała for Philipp Ziereis, who was carrying a knock.

The home side went up another gear and had an opportunity to equalise through Otto, but Vasilj produced an excellent stop to deny the substitute before Zander cleared the danger by the left-hand upright. The ball remained in play and the Boys in Brown launched a superb counterattack via Paqarada, Eric Smith and then Kyereh, who danced his way past Kennedy before slipping the ball out wide to Burgstaller and then converting the return pass as cool as you like. A fitting end to a perfect attack on the Ghana international's return to action! It was far from over, however, and Regensburg halved the deficit for a second time when Otto latched onto a long upfield pass and steered the ball past Vasilj into the bottom-left corner.

It was end-to-end stuff now and the Boys in Brown almost restored their two-goal advantage on 74 when Meyer pulled off a brilliant stop to keep out a Burgstaller rocket that was heading for the top-left corner. Four minutes later it was Vasilj's turn to shine when he prevented a Besuschkow curler from finding the top-left corner at the other end. The excitement levels reached fever pitch and there was no let-up in the action.

Schultz responded with a triple change in the 80^th minute, throwing on Marcel Beifus, Igor Matanović and Simon Makienok for Marcel Hartel, Maximilian Dittgen and Guido Burgstaller. Regensburg pushed forward relentlessly in a desperate bid to ward off a fourth home defeat on the bounce, no easy task against a Schultz XI who sought to protect their lead with everything they had. Kyereh had an opportunity from a Matanović cross three minutes from time, but his shot hit the side netting. Regensburg rallied one last time and went close when Albers got his knee to an upfield punt and the ball flew just wide of the left-hand upright. The home side continued to pepper the penalty area with long balls and forced several corners in time added on, but the Boys in Brown hung on to take all three points and end a run of five games without a win.

SSV Jahn Regensburg

Meyer - Saller (Faber 46'), Breitkreuz, Kennedy, Guwara (Caliskaner 88') - Gimber (Yildirim 88'), Singh, Shipnoski (Otto 46'), Besuschkow - Boukhalfa (Beste 82'), Albers

Head coach: Mersad Selimbegović

FC St. Pauli

Vasilj - Zander, Ziereis (Dźwigała 58'), Medić, Paqarada - Smith, Irvine, Hartel (Beifus 80'), Amenyido (Kyereh 57') - Dittgen (Matanović 80'), Burgstaller (Makienok 80')

Head coach: Timo Schultz

Goals: 0-1 Amenyido (7'), 0-2 Burgstaller (pen. 11'), 1-2 Albers (56'), 1-3 Kyereh (66'), 2-3 Otto (72')

Yellow cards: Meyer – Kyereh, Paqarada

Referee: Nicolas Winter (Hagenbach)

Attendance: 7,605

Photos: Witters