FC St. Pauli

Influenced by the solid defensive performance against promotion contenders Nürnberg last time out, head coach Markus Kauczinski named an unchanged side for the trip south. And in a repeat of Monday evening's opening, Sami Allagui was presented with an opportunity to go for goal with just seconds on the clock, testing Örjan Nyland with a decent effort from range that the Norwegian keeper kept out with aplomb. Once again, the Boys in Brown set their stall out to keep things tight at the back and wait for a chance to break.

They had to wait until the 27^th minute for their first real chance of the game, captain Bernd Nehrig forcing a decent save from Nyland with a rasping shot from just outside of the box. There was nothing the keeper could do three minutes later, however. Waldemar Sobota dissected the home defence with a lovely ball through to Richard Neudecker, who squared it for Allagui to tap home from close range and send the 1,500 travelling fans into raptures.

In blustery, snowy conditions, Ingolstadt offered little in the way of attack, but they almost manufactured an equaliser just before the break. Fortunately, Robin Himmelmann produced a fine save to turn Dario Lezcano's header round the post.

Sami Allagui finished off a lovely move with half an hour gone to give his side the lead at the interval.

Ingolstadt came out for the second half determined to change the complexion of the game, requiring a big team effort from the Boys in Brown to protect their lead until the final whistle. The home side upped the tempo and forced the visitors deep into their own half. Kauczinski's side remained focused, however, and threw themselves into every ball, as when Christian Träsch's shot was blocked in the 52^nd minute.

Overall, the Boys in Brown seemed to have little difficulty dealing with the efforts of the home side. On the contrary, they repeatedly found space in which to break out in search of a goal that would end the game as a contest. Allagui was muscled off the ball by Tobias Schröck to defuse the danger on 65, for example, and Marvin Matip cut out a Jeremy Dudziak ball into the goal area at the last moment six minutes from time. Instead, Kauczinski's charges had to survive a nervy finale but eventually referee Sven Waschitzki blew his whistle one last time to confirm another victory away from home!

FC Ingolstadt 04

Nyland – Levels, Schröck, Matip, Otavio – Träsch (Wahl 86'), Morales – Ebert (Pledl 46'), Kittel – Hartmann (Kutschke 68'), Lezcano

Head coach: Stefan Leitl

FC St. Pauli

Himmelmann – Park, Sobiech, Avevor, Buballa – Nehrig, Dudziak – Sobota (Flum 87'), Allagui (Mats Møller Dæhli 80'), Neudecker (Zander 75') – Bouhaddouz

Head coach: Markus Kauczinski

Goal: 0-1 Allagui (30')

Yellow cards: Matip, Kittel – Sobiech, Nehrig 

Referee: Sven Waschitzki (Essen)

Attendance: 10,071

Photos: Witters