The last weekend of German action for the year kicked off on Friday night and things started in the 2.Bundesliga as one of the three matches saw St. Pauli host Karlsruher SC.
The was a fantastic atmosphere before kick off as both sets of fans were lively and loud. The home fans have enjoyed a good season so far with their team being at the top end of the table rather than at the bottom like last season. St. Pauli went into the game in fourth place and last weekend they drew 0-0 with Arminia Bielefeld.
Karlsruhe haven't done as well as they would've hope before the season, however thanks to ending their three game losing streak last weekend with a 1-0 over Greuther Fürth they find themselves in eleventh place.
The hosts seemed to take the opening minutes easy as they invited pressure from Karlsruhe, it looked like they were just waiting for the counter attack. After eight minutes that's what they did, Sebastian Maier burst forward after Enrico Valentini lost possession for Karlsruhe. Maier found Lennart Thy and at the last moment as he edged towards the box and Martin Stoll made an important block.
The Buccaneers were well on top as they looked to carve open their guests
Karlsruhe were struggling to deal with St. Pauli as they attacked with plenty of pace a bombarded their area with crosses, fortunately for the away side St. Pauli struggled to threaten Renè Vollath.
St. Pauli were certainly on top and looked the more likely to breaking the deadlock, the moment the deadlock was broken came in the 24th minute. Kyoung-Rok Choi showed great skill to get some space before playing a lovely ball across the pitch to Maier, who then passed the ball back to Bernd Nehrig and the midfielder was allowed time to unleashed an outstanding strike that flew past Vollath. The midfielder certainly enjoyed his strike as it was a fantastic way to open his account for St. Pauli.
Sebastian Maier was in the mood during this game and barley anyone could stop him controlling this game for St. Pauli. A few minutes after the goal the midfielder tried his luck from just outside the area and unfortunately he was off the mark by a couple of inches.
Karlsruhe pushed for an equaliser however they were falling short as they came out second in every duel.
Karlsruhe had more possession after going behind and they found a way back into the game just before the forty minute mark. Valentini charged forward only to be brought down, advantaged was given by the referee and this allowed Manuel Torres to pass the ball wide to Boubacar Barry, he returned the ball with a cutback and Torres fired his effort into the roof of the net before Robin Himmelmann could barely react.
The hosts reacted well and finished the half strongly, Christopher Buchtmann was played through soon after the goal and he failed to lift the ball over Vollath and the Karlsruhe keeper caught comfortably.
St. Pauli came out firing in the second half meaning Vollath was a busy man, after a couple of efforts from corners and from range St. Pauli thought they took the lead just before the hour mark. A corner was well delivered and Lasse Sobiech leapt up well to head the ball towards Thy, the forward won his header only to be denied by the right post.
Despite the dominance of St. Pauli and the handful of missed opportunities it was Karlsruhe that scored the next goal. From a freekick the ball was headed on towards the back post to the free Jonas Meffert, who somehow struck the post twice from a couple of yards out, his third attempt saw him poke the ball to Dimitrios Diamantakos and the striker flicked the ball in.
KSC remained strong after taking a surprise lead
The hosts pushed and pushed for an equaliser but couldn't find a way through Karlsruhe defence and in particular Vollath who was in inspired form. Maier continued to try his luck from range and one effort struck the arm of Sascha Traut and to Ewald Lienen's frustration nothing was given.
The last testing effort of the game came from St. Pauli, Daniel Buballa won the ball and charged towards the area. His long range effort flew through the bodies in front of the goal and having seen the ball late Vollath made the save of the game to flick the ball out for a corner.
That was the end of a frustrating result for St. Pauli, they played well and deserved all three points. However Karlsruhe dug in deep and managed to make the most their chances and earned three important points.
There's still plenty of games left to play this weekend, but for now Karlsruhe move up to tenth, while St. Pauli stay in fourth with Eintracht Braunschweig and Bochum snapping at their heels.