FC St. Pauli

Buoyed by the 4-1 defeat of FC Ingolstadt last week, the 500 travelling St. Pauli fans saw an unchanged side take the field determined to dismiss any thought of an alleged weakness away from home and do their talking on the pitch.

After the customary cautious start, it was the Schultz XI who laid down the first marker in the 13^th minute. The Boys in Brown had already displayed a preference for the left-hand side during the opening exchanges, and on this occasion Guido Burgstaller sent strike partner Maximilian Dittgen on his way down the flank. The former Wiesbaden man attempted to pick out the advancing Daniel-Kofi Kyereh with his whipped-in cross, but instead found KSC goalkeeper Marius Gersbeck, who unwittingly diverted the ball into his own net with his right arm.

The Karlsruhe custodian atoned for his error eight minutes later when he got the better of Burgstaller in a one-on-one and then stuck out a leg to deny Jackson Irvine not 60 seconds later. In view of those two opportunities, the Boys in Brown were well worth their lead and eventually went the entire half without coming under serious threat. Then, just before the break, the home fans were in uproar when Kyereh gratefully accepted the invitation to go down under a challenge from Tim Breithaupt on the edge of the box. Burgstaller stepped up and slotted the resulting penalty into the bottom-right corner with aplomb.

Daniel-Kofi Kyereh goes down in the box, and the resulting penalty is converted by Guido Burgstaller

Four minutes into the second half, Irvine squandered an opportunity to put the game practically out of the home side's reach when he directed his header over the bar, a moment that seemed to spark KSC into life. Nikola Vasilj, who had largely been reduced to the role of spectator in the first period, was suddenly called into action, reacting brilliantly to keep out two headers from powerhouse striker Philipp Hofmann within the space of five minutes. Yet just as things started to get a little hectic, the Boys in Brown produced the perfect response on 58. A no-nonsense passing move created space for Burgstaller to breach the Karlsruhe backline and square the ball for Kyereh to dink it over Gersbeck and into the net for the third.

That Kyereh strike took the wind out of the home side's sails and the game appeared to be over as a contest. It was perhaps this lethargy that was partly to blame for Karlsruhe's consolation goal eleven minutes from time when the Boys in Brown failed to tidy up at the back, allowing substitute Fabian Schleusener to take advantage of a skied clearance from Marcel Hartel to power a shot into the net. A rejuvenated KSC scented an opportunity to rescue a point but ultimately made little headway, as the Schultz XI successfully interrupted the flow of the game precisely in this phase of the game. All things considered, then, the Boys in Brown deservedly secured their first win on the road this season to climb to second in the table. Next week Dynamo Dresden are the visitors to the Millerntor (13.30 CET).

Karlsruher SC

Gersbeck – Thiede, Bormuth, Kobald, Heise (Jakob 63') – Breithaupt – Kaufmann (Schleusener 46'), Choi (Kother 63'), Wanitzek, Lorenz (Batmaz 63') – Hofmann

Head coach: Christian Eichner

FC St. Pauli

Vasilj – Zander, Ziereis, Medić, Paqarada (Lawrence 90') – Aremu – Irvine (Benatelli 75'), Hartel – Kyereh (Makienok 84') – Burgstaller, Dittgen (Buchtmann 75')

Head coach: Timo Schultz

Goals: 0-1 Gersbeck (o.g. 13'), 0-2 Burgstaller (pen' 45'), 0-3 Kyereh (58'), 1-3 Schleusener (79')

Yellow cards: Eichner (head coach), Hofmann, Choi, Bormuth, Kobald, Batmaz – Irvine, Hartel

Referee: Nicolas Winter

Attendance: 12,500 (sold out)

Photos: Witters