FC St. Pauli ended a run of four defeats with a point against 1. FC Nürnberg, whose own five game winning streak was brought to an end.
Christopher Buchtmann had given the hosts an early lead, but Guido Burgstaller, the top scorer in the 2. Bundesliga, got his ninth of the season to bring them level.
Nürnberg also had shouts for a penalty denied, but St. Pauli looked the more likely to win it in the second half, but in the end both sides had to settle for a point.
Contrasting fortunes
These two clubs finished fourth and third last season, started the season poorly and picked up their first wins against Arminia Bielefeld. The big difference is that Nürnberg have kept on winning whilst St. Paul’s form remained dire.
Ewald Lienen is still looking for a winning formula, and made four changes from the side’s DFB-Pokal defeat to Hertha BSC last week, with Vegar Eggen Hedenstad, Lasse Sobiech, Cenk Sahin and Marvin Ducksch coming in for Marc Hornschuh, Daniel Buballa, Maurice Litka and Kyoung-Rok Choi.
Nürnberg kept faith with the side that nearly came from 3-0 down against Schalke 04, with the only change an enforced one, as Kevin Möhwald replaced the injured Hanno Behrens.
Burgstaller hits back after electric start by St. Pauli
St. Pauli started liked a train, with Ryo Miyaichi particularly influential. His layoff to Duchsch almost gave them a second minute lead, with his first attempt blocked and the second going wide.
He was involved in the move which did lead to the opening goal. He played the ball to Buchtmann, who found Ducksch. Two defenders got ahead of him but couldn’t clear the ball, which Buchtmann was able to take to score.
They remained bright, but Nürnberg were soon able to cause problems, but it took a set piece for them to equalise. Tobias Kempe’s corner was headed on by Tim Matavz to Burgstaller, who finished at the far post.
Unfortunately for the hosts, they would lose Miyaichi soon after. He failed to recover from a clash of heads with Tim Leibold, and had to be replaced by Litka.
The rest of the first half remained frantic but scrappy. After the referee missed a handball by Hedenstad in the St. Pauli box, when a touch from Burgstaller deflected off him arm, Kempe hit the post for Nürnberg from a high header that looked bound to go out, although Robin Himmelmann probably had it covered.
St. Pauli unable to utilise passionate home support
The second half went as the first half ended. The normally dependable Himmlemann spilled his save from Matavz, although he recovered to keep out Kempe’s follow-up. Ducksch meanwhile went over for St. Pauli.
Kirschbaum was then required to make a couple of key saves. After he sent a Sahin shot from outside of the box, he then made an excellent save after Sobiech hit the target with a precise and powerful header from the corner.
The hosts were frustrating Nürnberg with the kind of battling performance they’ve been lacking this season. Laszlo Sepsi shot wide, whilst Kevin Möhwald had an attempt taken by Himmelmann.
But St. Pauli could have won it with ten minutes remaining. After Himmelmann easily took a Nürnberg free-kick, he launched his throw all the way to Sahin, who had all the time and space he needed to strike on the counter, but his eventual shot proved far too easy for Kirschbaum.
They looked the more likely to grab a winner even after that, with the Millerntor crowd driving them on, but it was not to be in the end. The draw ends a four-game losing streak, but they remain bottom and five points adrift from safety.