1. FC Nürnberg continue to shoot up the table thanks to two second half goal from Guido Burgstaller against Karlsruher SC.
All the key action came in the second half, with his brace coming after Karlsruhe’s Enrico Valentini had a penalty saved by Thorston Kirschbaum.
However the game had to be halted for nearly ten minutes after flares were set off and trouble erupted between the two sets the fans.
After the resumption, Tim Matavz sealed the win with a third goal, with the result taking his side up to tenth in the 2. Bundesliga table.
Enforced changes for both sides
Both sides came into this fixture level on seven points, in 13th and 14th positions, after relatively disappointing starts to the season.
Karlsruhe had just one win, against Erzgebirge Aue, but had only lost twice and they drew against Fortuna Düsseldorf just before the international break. After a disastrous start to the season, things have been picking up for Nürnberg, with two wins in their previous two matches, against Arminia Bielefeld and 1. FC Union Berlin.
Karlsruhe made two changes, with Dirk Orlishausen in for the injured René Vollath in goal and David Kinsombi replacing Martin Stoll in defence.
Der Club made one enforced change, with Tobias Kempe coming in for Edgar Salli, who was suspended after his two yellow cards in the last match. Although veteran keeper Raphael Schäfer was available again after a knee injury, they stuck with Kirschbaum in goal.
Neither side capitalises on limited chances
The first half was far from a feast of football, with neither side creating many moments of inspiration.
Nürnberg had far more of the ball in the opening stages, but the best they had to show for it were a couple of shots wide by Burgstaller, the second deflecting off Hanno Behrens into the side netting, and then a shot wide by Kempe, following a cross from Burgstaller.
Karlsruhe did come more into the game as the half came to an end, with three chances in as many minute. Moritz Stoppelkamp had the best of them, only for it to be saved by Kirschbaum, whilst Erwin Hoffer had a shot sent wide by the keeper, and Hiroki Yamada fired wide from the resulting corner.
Nürnberg pounce after penalty miss
Initially it appears the second half would go very much the same as the first, but the game was suddenly brought to life when Florian Kamberi charged his way into the box with the ball. Even Hovland struggled to hold him back, and ended up falling into his path, bringing him down and giving away a penalty.
With the way the game had gone, it seemed almost inevitable that Valentini would miss, and so it proved, with Kirschbaum guessing the right way to save the former Nürnberg youngster’s kick.
He then almost made up for it though when the ball came back into the box, but his shot was deflected off Hovland, and that was enough to trigger Nürnberg back to life.
First they had a corner headed over by Dave Bulthuis, but a few minutes later they were ahead. Some great football led to a save by Orlishausen off Behrens, but the ball went straight to Burgstaller, who scored his sixth goal of the season into an empty net.
Six quickly became seven for the Austrian. A well-placed corner from Kempe found Kevin Möhwald at the far edge of the box. He set it up to Burgstaller, who back-heeled it into the back of the net.
Trouble spoils impressive win for visitors
Little else happened on the pitch immediately after the second goal, but unfortunately then the attention turned to what was happening off the field, eventually leading play to be stopped for almost ten minutes.
Nürnberg fans started to let flares of the stand, with announcements over the tannoy doing little to prevent it. There then appeared to be an attempt to storm the Nürnberg end by the home set of supporters.
Once play got back underway, Karlsruhe went in search of a goal, with Kamberi having a couple of chances blocked, but it was Nürnberg who got the third, with a cross from Miso Brecko played by Behrens to the forward, who side-footed it in past Orlishausen.
So Nürnberg seem to have put their difficult start beyond, but Karlsruhe are still mired in trouble, dropping on goal difference to fifteenth, just two points clear of the bottom three.