Ewald Lienen made three changes to the side that drew with Sandhausen on Tuesday. Sören Gonther and Marc Hornschuh came in for Philipp Ziereis and Daniel Buballa in the back four, with Dudziak remaining at left-back, as in the closing stages against Sandhausen, and Hornschuh starting on the right. Fit-again Mats Møller Dæhli returned to the position behind Aziz Bouhaddouz in attacking midfield at the expense of Kyoungrok Choi.

Nürnberg were without several key players but it was they who registered the first attempt on goal through Tobias Kempe after four minutes. His effort failed to trouble Philipp Heerwagen, however, who was making his 150th second division appearance. With the two sides trying to find their feet, that was the only action of note in the opening stages. A shot from distance by Miso Brecko in the tenth minute required no intervention from the St. Pauli goalkeeper.

The first real chance of the game fell to the visitors on 15 when Lasse Sobiech flicked on a Christopher Buchtmann corner to Gonther, whose shot on the turn whistled just over the crossbar. Apart from that, the home side edged the exchanges and put Lienen's side under some pressure. But with Sobiech and Gonther standing firm in the middle, they never really threatened Heerwagen's goal. Their best chance fell to Kempe, whose shot was turned around the post for a corner by the St. Pauli custodian.

At the other end chances remained a rarity, with the Boys in Brown struggling to play their way out of defence. That improved towards the end of the half, though they were unable to muster more than two attempts through Waldemar Sobota, after a nice solo run on 43, and Møller Dæhli two minutes later. Both efforts were defused by FCN keeper Raphael Schäfer, however, and 0-0 was a fair reflection of the proceedings at the interval.

The Boys in Brown emerged for the second half unchanged but showing more drive towards goal than in the first. With 51 minutes gone Cenk Sahin skipped past a defender on the right and cut inside before unleashing a shot on goal with his stronger left-foot. Schäfer could only palm the ball out and Aziz Bouhaddouz was perfectly placed to stab the ball home. The home side immediately pushed forward in search of an equaliser, presenting Lienen's side with more chances to hit back on the break. Even Hovland ended the first such opportunity with a tactical foul on 55, and three minutes later Dave Bulthuis deflected a Sobota shot for a corner after another counter.

Nürnberg coach Michael Köllner responded to the deficit with two changes on the hour to give his side a more attacking look, especially through the introduction of striker Tim Matavz. But it was the Boys in Brown who were to get the next goal in the 70th minute. A promising counterattack looked to have fizzled out but when Bernd Nehrig pulled the trigger from distance, Bouhaddouz was standing where all good strikers should and with his back to goal somehow diverted the ball past Schäfer and into the net. At the other end Eduard Löwen tried his luck with a long-range effort on 73, but Heerwagen was down quickly to his right to make the save.

Lienen introduced two defensive specialists in Philipp Ziereis on 73 and Daniel Buballa three minutes later, Hornschuh and Sahin making way. Seeing the game out was the objective and the Boys in Brown were able to keep the home side away from their goal for the most part. Kempe went close from a corner after 78 minutes, but apart from that St. Pauli stayed solid at the back. Johannes Flum celebrated his return to first team action in the closing stages after several weeks out with a pulled muscle. The final chance of the game fell to that man Kempe again, but Heerwagen was not to be beaten. And when the referee blew his whistle moments later, a run of four games without a win had come to an end.

FC Nürnberg

Schäfer - Bulthuis, Mühl, Hovland (Matavz 64') - Djakpa, Brecko, Kammerbauer - Behrens (Hufnagel 60'), Löwen, Kempe - Baumann (Gislason 73')

Head coach: Michael Köllner

FC St. Pauli

Heerwagen - Dudziak, Sobiech, Gonther, Hornschuh (Ziereis 73') - Nehrig, Buchtmann - Sahin (Buballa 76'), Møller Dæhli (Flum 81'), Sobota - Bouhaddouz

Head coach: Ewald Lienen

Goals: 0-1 Bouhaddouz (51'), 0-2 Bouhaddouz (70')

Yellow cards: Hovland, Schlager, Schäfer - Nehrig

Referee: Schlager

Attendance: 28,889

Photo: Witters