Karlsruhe earned a convincing 3-0 win over St. Pauli on Friday evening, narrowing the gap between themselves and third. Rouwen Hennings hit a first half double, though Hiroki Yamada could have easily added a few more to the tally. The second period was much less frantic and Manuel Gulde headed home a third, capping off a fine performance from the hosts.

A 2-2 draw was all Karlsruhe could manage at lowly VfR Aalen, as Jurgen Gjasula's brace helped them to halt Markus Kauczinski's side and their promotion aspirations. He opted for a similar side nevertheless, as Dmitri Nazarov replaced Ilian Micanski; knowing that they had to keep pace with the sides above them.

Following Choi Kyoung-Rok's stunning debut, the 20-year-old was leading the attack and Ewald Lienen was buoyant over his side's survival chances. That 4-0 win over Fortuna Düsseldorf kept them in the hunt to stay in the division and, unsurprisingly, they remained unchanged from Monday's incredible performance.

The past results were soon thrown out the window and the hosts had the lead within three minutes. Hiroki Yamada and Rouwen Hennings exchanged passes, before the Dutchman stole a march on the St. Pauli defence and slipped the ball under Robin Himmelman for his twelfth goal of the season.

Karlsruhe were well in charge and almost added a second, although Reinhold Yabo's drive went zipping over the bar. Choi responded soon after and he had a similar attempt to Yabo but Dirk Orlishausen was able to it rise and see it comfortably over, in what was an interesting start to the game.

They were not settling for what they had and, knowing how tight it was and how important goal difference could become, a second goal was soon chalked up. Henning was again the scorer and he had Enrico Valentini to thank for it. The Italian whipped in a tantalising cross which the Dutch forward smartly volleyed home at the near post, though Himmelmann had little-to-no hope of saving it.

Yamada had two fantastic chances to extend his side's lead even further. He put them high and wide after some great play from Philipp Max and Yabo, especially the second opportunity when he glanced a free header past the post.

Dan Gordon came to Orlishausen's rescue at the other end. The KSC 'keeper was caught off guard by Dennis Daube's swinging corner which found Lasse Sobiech, he looped the ball towards goal but the former BVB man was able to brilliantly flick it over the bar. heads off his line after Sobiech's lopping header off the line after Dennis Daube's cross. The Jamaican wasted a free header on the stroke of half-time, as Karlsruhe went into the break deservedly ahead.

The second half was very open in the beginning. Nzarov and John Verhoek both had good early chances, but some stubborn defending kept the pair from adding to the goal-tally. Enrico Valentini was proving to be a thorn in St. Pauli's left hand side, constantly starting and cutting out attacks for his respective side.

Hennings was denied his hat-trick by Himmelman, who made a smart save to his right. Lienen threw on Armando Cooper and Sebastian Maier in the hopes of finding a way back into the game, though they provided little immediate impact.

In fact, Karlsruhe were able to score a third. Manuel Gulde came charging in from the edge of the box, before emphatically heading home Valentini's great free-kick into the bottom corner. The visitors' back-line didn't so much as move, giving the centre-half a free run at the ball.

Julian Koch and Lennart Thy gave Orlishausen his first real tests in the seventy-fifth minute, though he dealt with both very comfortably; just like the entire Karlsruhe team. They saw the remainder of the game out quite comfortably, in what was a well-earned three points.

Kauczinski's men moved to within touching distance of Kaiserslautern with the win. After last week's performance and their easier run in than the other promotion contenders, they'll fancy their chances of moving even further up the table. As for St. Pauli, they remain seventeenth and will be praying none of their fellow relegation candidates pick up three points.