Nürnberg were efficient in claiming maximum points in Sunday afternoon's Spitzenspiel against leaders Freiburg.
Pre-match build-up
The home side came into the game brimming with confidence having put together an unbeaten run since early October after a stuttering start to their season.
The away side also haven't lost in the league since October and went into the match occupying top spot in the 2. Bundesliga. However, the visitors had a couple of dilemmas in midfield, with Amir Abrashi suspended, Mike Frantz injured and covering midfielder Julian Schuster also injured, Karim Guédé was given the nod to start up front with Maximilian Philipp dropping to wide midfield. American Caleb Stanko was gifted his debut in the centre of the park.
So, with two long-serving unbeaten records, something had to give.
The visitors controlled much of the early stages, and just four minutes in had the ball on the back of the net. The ever-industrious Vincenzo Grifo fed Maximilian Philipp who rounded the 'keeper, but he was correctly flagged as offside by the referee's official.
Burgstaller opens the scoring
On the quarter of an hour mark, the home side took the lead with their first attempt. Some sloppy Freiburg defending allowed Alessandro Schöpf to get a shot away, his effort was well saved by Alexander Schwolow but the rebound hit defender Jonas Föhrenbach and fell to Guido Burgstaller, who turned and buried the ball underneath the helpless Schwolow; 1-0 to Der Club.
Freiburg try to fight back
After falling behind against the run of play, the visitors had a number of chances to draw level. First, a Vincenzo Grifo free-kick was palmed wide of the post by Raphael Schäfer between in the sticks, before both Karim Guédé and Nils Petersen had opportunities to level. That said, Nürnberg probably went to closest to scoring the all-important second goal. Burgstaller again with the strike, which arrowed narrowly wide of the post. It finished 1-0 to the hosts at the interval.
A manic minute
After a slow build-up, the second period sprang to life just after the hour mark. First, the visitors pulled themselves level through Immanuel Höhn. A corner was flicked towards the back post and he was on hand to tap in. A goal which was probably fair on the balance of play.
Then, almost immediately from the restart, the hosts found themselves ahead again, when full-back Jonas Föhrenbach turned Tim Leibold's cross into his own net to put Der Club 2-1 to the good; a bitter for the league leaders.
The chase
Philipp was next to go close for Freiburg as they pressed again for an equaliser. Hi brought down a long ball deliciously, cutting inside in the process and bent an effort just inches wide of the upright. Close, but no cigar.
Freiburg had one last throw of the dice late on, when they were awarded a free-kick in a good position, but expert Vincenzo Grifo wasn't able to hit the target. That miss was enough for the hosts to hold on and claim a vital three points, which lifts them back to third, and five points behind Freiburg in second place.