An early strike from Marc Rzatkowski was enough to secure all three points for St. Pauli against RB Leipzig, which gave the hosts a massive boost to their promotion hopes. Robin Himmelmann and Bernd Nehrig also put in important performances, as they moved within touching distance of an automatic promotion spot.

Both clubs came into the clash following 2-0 wins to start 2016, and were hoping to continue that trend. St. Pauli made no changes to the line-up that beat Greuther Fürth, while Leipzig brought in Peter Gulacsi for the injured Fabio Coltorti from their win over Eintracht Braunschweig.

Lightning start gives St. Pauli the lead

It was a frantic beginning to the game, with the visitors largely on the defensive. St. Pauli, with 25,000 frenzied fans behind them, came forward whenever possible with pace and purpose. Enis Alushi wasted two excellent chances to play in the free Waldemar Sobota, who had made excellent runs on the break.

Marcel Sabitzer responded with a long distance drive that had Robin Himmelmann sprawled to his right, though it was only momentary respite. Marc Rzatkowski lifted the ferocious home support off their feet with a controlled, composed finish. The chance came after another lightning breakaway, with Christopher Buchtmann feeding Daniel Buballa. The flying left-back picked out the former Bochum starlet, who rifled under Gulacsi.

Leipzig come back into the game

The hosts then went into their shell after that, and began to invite the Bulls onto their goal. A penalty appeal from Dominik Kaiser was correctly turned down, Himmelmann made a spectacular goal-line slide tackle to deny Willi Orban. The best chance of the lot came to Emil Forsberg, though he wasn't able to turn Kaiser's cross into the net.

It took a superb tackle from Bernd Nehrig to deny Sabitzer a clear run on goal, who was becoming an increasingly influential player in the game. Lasse Sobiech passed up a headed chance, and it was all Leipzig until the break after that. Orban headed over, while Yussuf Poulsen was smartly stopped by Himmelmann. The resulting corner saw Sabitzer halted with a strong save, as St. Pauli went into the break with a lead.

Leipzig lucky to still be in the game

The start to the second half didn't bring the clear-cut chances of the first-half, but had plenty of half chances. Both teams looked dangerous from set-pieces, with Himmelmann kept busy with a series of close range efforts, though none were terribly taxing.

St. Pauli themselves had plenty of opportunities to whip the ball into a dangerous area, and that nearly paid dividends on the hour mark. Nehrig, who had made a crucial intervention at one end, had a header acrobatically tipped away by Gulacsi before the rebound was thrashed off target. Ralf Rangnick responded immediately, bringing Davie Selke and Massimo Bruno on for Kaiser and Diego Demme.

St. Pauli close out the game for three important points

Neither player had the desired impact, and it was the hosts who nearly put the game to bed. The all action Nehrig, who isn't known for having a crucial impact on games, was thriving and a 25-yard volley rattled off the bar with Gulacsi motionless. Leipzig finally responded as the offside trap was beaten by Bruno, but he couldn't a way past Himmelmann and fired wide.

Leipzig could count themselves fortunate that the score-line was not extended before the end, as Fabrice-Jean Picault rattled the post on from a narrow angle. Aside from that, the final stages were managed expertly by the hosts to consolidate fourth place, moving level on points with 1. FC Nürnberg. Leipzig, who extended their lead at the top to six points last weekend, could have it cut to three once again when SC Freiburg take on Fortuna Düsseldorf this Sunday.