Three goals in seven second half minutes ensured that FC St. Pauli and 1860 Munich had to settle for a share of the point in Thursday night’s 2. Bundesliga match.

Christopher Buchtmann capitalised on poor defending to give the hosts a first half lead, but 1860 equalised thanks to a controversially-awarded penalty converted by Michael Liendl.

Bernd Nehrig restored the lead, but quickly after substitute Victor Andrade scored a stunning goal to bring the game level again.

Ziereis and Aycicek handed starts

St. Pauli had a disastrous start to the season after losing all three games, but victory against Arminia Bielefeld after the international break was followed by a 1-1 draw against Karlsruher SC at the weekend.

Meanwhile it’s been an inconsistent start for 1860. There were wins against Karlsruhe and 1. FC Nürnberg, but they’ve also lost twice, including at the weekend against Union Berlin.

Both sides made one change from their weekend games. St. Pauli brought in Philipp Ziereis for Marc Hornschuh following his recovery from a virus, whilst 1860 replaced Daylon Claasen with Levent Aycicek.

St. Pauli hang on after Buchtmann opener

St. Pauli had an early chance when Aziz Bouhaddouz headed over, whilst for the visitors Ivica Olic put a header into the side netting

However poor defending from 1860 helped St. Pauli into the lead just over 15 minutes in. A slip from Maximilian Wittek gave to ball to Ryo Miyaichi. Jan Mauersberger attempts to clear his cross, but only succeeded in passing it straight to Buchtmann, who fired it in.

1860 could have been level almost straightaway, if not for Robin Himmelmann. Sascha Mölders set up Liendl, who got past Daniel Buballa, with Himmelmann doing well to block off his shot on the run.

They were probably the better side after the goal, although St. Pauli defended well to limit their chances. They didn’t always help themselves though, with Mölders heading an excellent cross from Karim Matmour well wide, and he had an even better chance to equalise in the one minute of added time, swinging at the ball on turn picked up from a Wittek cross, but seeing it go just wide.

Controversial penalty award for 1860

The second half had a cagey start, with Buchtmann and Vegar Eggen Hedenstad off target for St. Pauli, and Aycicek missing a couple of chances at the other end.

However the yellow cards would mount up in the second half, with four bookings in the space of ten minutes setting the tone. Meanwhile, St. Pauli had penalty appeals denied when Bouhaddouz went down in a challenge with Wittek.

1860 would equalise in controversial fashion. After Olic appeared to make contact with the ball with his arm in the build-up, a penalty was given after Matmour after Nehrig was adjudged to have made enough contact to bring him down.

There was a delay as the referee checked his decision with one of his assistants, and the St. Pauli players continued to argue the issue. The spot kick was eventually taken and scored by Liendel.

Andrade stunner keeps St. Pauli in check

St. Pauli were aggrieved but that was soon forgotten, temporarily at least. A deflected cross was headed towards goal by Zieries, with Nehrig getting the slightest of touches to ensure that it ended up in the net.

Barely a minute later and 1860 restored parity again. Whether Andrade, who had only come on less than a minute earlier, meant to shoot from the corner of the box isn’t clear, but his effect found its way past Himmelmann, and a wonderful goal it was too.

The hosts came forward more in the closing stages as both sides frantically searched for a winner that would never come. Bouhaddouz had a chance blocked by Jan Zimmermann, whilst Andrade hit the post with an attempted cross.

However the draw was probably a fair result, despite the disputed nature of the penalty. The ill-disciplined nature of the second was emphasised with ten yellow cards being handed out in the game, whilst St. Pauli’s goalkeeping coach Mathias Hain was also sent from the dugout in stoppage time.