St. Pauli leapt above VfL Bochum with a hard-fought two-nil win on Saturday afternoon.
It was a tale of two strikers, as Simon Terodde was unable to find the net while Fabrice-Jean Picault notched up a brace.
Terodde fails to put Bochum ahead
With both teams having little other than table position to play for, and so the game had an open edge to it. Christopher Buchtmann had a strong shot well held by Manuel Riemann early on, with Sören Gonther throwing a header wide at the near post for the hosts. Simon Terodde had a great opening for Bochum, only to see his chip drift over.
Despite some early attacking movement from St. Pauli, the visitors were creating the more meaningful opportunities. Terodde was again shit out by a superb Robin Himmelmann save before Thomas Eisfeld's follow up was blocked. Bochum recycled play only to see Marco Terrazzino's bicycle kick fly just wide.
Terodde couldn't believe his luck when a third chance was brilliantly blocked by the stubborn St. Pauli defence, and their side came close to grabbing a goal against the run of play moments before. A perfectly weighted through ball found Fabrice-Jean Picault, though his effort was smothered by the oncoming Riemann.
Both sides battled for supremacy in the final few exchanges of the half, but a yellow card for Michael Maria was the only real talking point and the first period ended level.
Picault proves the difference
After failing to extend Riemann in the second half, St. Pauli came out firing and found an early second half goal. A cross from Buchtmann wasn't dealt with in the area, and a kind bounce fell kindly for Picault to slam home from close range. For all Bochum's chances, the opposition had made the most of the first major chance to fall their way.
Picault almost added to his tally not long afterwards, as he skewed a shot wide on the angle before a half-volley was palmed behind by Riemann. The momentum had swung decisively in St. Pauli's favour, and they would kill the game off after the hour mark.
The hosts broke forward with speed and, due to Bochum's defence being pushed up the pitch, were able to slide in Picault once more. The forward bore down on goal and produced a fine finish that nutmegged the goalkeeper and increased the lead to two-nil.
It was a rather comfortable ending to the game for St. Pauli, who managed to see out the remainder without conceding. Terodde had another excellent opportunity but Himmelmann was on hand to sniff out any hopes of a comeback. The hosts are now two points ahead of Bochum with four games to play.