FC St. Pauli

As in the 2-0 home defeat of Hertha BSC last week, head coach Fabian Hürzeler had to manage without the injured Eric Smith and Oladapo Afolayan at FC Nürnberg. Manolis Saliakas was ruled out by a one-match ban, though Karol Mets, who hobbled off just before the end of the Hertha game, and Philipp Treu, who was ill during the week, both reported in fit. That meant the only change to the side was Lars Ritzka for Saliakas. FCN boss Christian Fiél also made just one adjustment to the team that won at FC Magdeburg, Enrico Valentini coming in for the suspended Jan Gyamerah.

The two teams kicked off in fine footballing conditions, and after a cautious opening, it was the Boys in Brown who took control and registered the first attempt on goal on 10 minutes. Marcel Hartel pulled the trigger from 20 metres, only to see his effort clear the crossbar. The Hürzeler XI pinned the home side back in their own half in the ensuing period and created another opportunity from a corner on the quarter-hour. Nürnberg were unable to clear their lines when Hartel delivered the ball into the box, allowing Adam Dźwigała to direct a header towards goal, but Sebastian Andersson diverted it off target just in front of the goal line. Almost immediately, the home side threatened for the first time from one of their favoured counterthrusts when Benjamin Goller unleashed a shot from the right channel that powered into the side netting.

The Boys in Brown continued to dominate the proceedings but had to be patient in their search for a way through the compact Nürnberg rearguard. It took until the 25^th minute for the next chance to materialise following a move down the right, but first Hartel and then Jackson Irvine saw their shots blocked by defenders in the box. Irvine had another go from a Hartel corner four minutes later, and this time his header cleared the crossbar by some distance. Nürnberg were practically anonymous in attack, and whenever they did manage to find a way forward, the Boys in Brown successfully shut up shop.

Elias Saad came close to opening the scoring on 34 minutes when he went past Finn Jeltsch in the box and whipped in a shot from a tight angle that fizzed just wide of the target. It remained one-way traffic, with Nürnberg struggling to get out of their own half. Another Hartel corner to the edge of the area led to the next chance. Lars Ritzka met it first time but screwed his effort badly wide. A goal was coming, and it finally arrived on the stroke of half-time. Treu crossed from the right and Johannes Eggestein shrugged off the challenge of Jeltsch to power a header into the net.

Johannes Eggestein got on the scoresheet for the first time since the 2-0 win at Elversberg in early November.

Both teams emerged unchanged for the second half, though there was a change in the weather when the clouds opened on the restart. The home side fashioned the first decent chance four minutes in when Can Uzun teed up Jens Castrop and he produced a fine reflex save from Nikola Vasilj with a shot from 12 metres. Back at the other end, an excellent passing move produced a golden opportunity for Saad to double the advantage. His angled drive beat Claus, only to roll agonisingly wide of the far post.

The Boys in Brown continued to knock the ball around nicely and didn't give the opposition a sniff. Nürnberg were reduced to launching the odd counterattack on winning possession, but never posed a threat. Fiél responded early and introduced two fresh attacking players in Lukas Schleimer for Benjamin Goller on 53 and Taylan Duman for Enrico Valentini four minutes later. But after Ritzka had had another go from range following a corner, this time firing over, the Hürzeler XI struck again. Connor Metcalfe won the ball in the Nürnberg half and fed the unmarked Eggestein, who unselfishly knocked the ball square to Hartel, and he had no problem slotting a shot past the keeper to make it 2-0.

That prompted another reaction from Fiél, who sent on the next attack-minded pairing in Joseph Hungbo and Kanji Okunuki for Erik Wekesser and Sebastian Andersson. Their presence went unnoticed, however, unlike that of Karol Mets, whose header from yet another Hartel corner was tipped over the bar by Claus. The home side stepped up their attacking efforts as the game entered the final quarter of an hour, but there was simply no way through the brown-and-white bulwark.

Hürzeler made his first substitution in the 80^th minute when he threw on Aljoscha Kemlein for Elias Saad, and the new man slotted in nicely, sending Metcalfe on his way with a superb through ball. On arriving in the box, however, the Australian was crowded out by two defenders and the chance was gone. That was the last of the action, though mention should be made of the fact that Eric da Silva Moreira came on just before the final whistle to make his second division debut. All in all, it was a thoroughly deserved victory for the Boys in Brown, who restricted the home side to just two attempts on goal in an outstanding defensive performance to claim all three points.

FC Nürnberg

Klaus - Valentini (Duman 57'), Jeltsch, Horn, Brown - Castrop, Flick, Wekesser (Okunuki 71') - Goller (Schleimer 53'), Andersson (Hungbo 71'), Uzun

Head coach: Christian Fiél

FC St. Pauli

Vasilj - Dźwigała, Wahl, Mets - Treu (Boukhalfa 90'), Irvine, Hartel, Ritzka (da Silva Moreira 90'+2) - Metcalfe, Eggestein (Zoller 90'+2), Saad (Kemlein 80')

Head coach: Fabian Hürzeler

Goals: 0-1 Eggestein (44'), 0-2 Hartel (62')

Yellow cards: Dźwigała, Saad (suspended against Paderborn)

Referee: Frank Willenborg (Osnabrück)

Attendance: 41,269

Photos: Witters