A brace from Andreas Voglsammer and Julian Börner's header secured a 1-3 win for Arminia Bielefeld over SV Sandhausen, who responded late on through Markus Karl.
Team news
Following their hard-fought nil-all draw with FC St. Pauli during the week, Kenan Kocak made three changes to the side which secured a battling point. Damian Roßbach, Stefan Kulovits and Manuel Stiefler were replaced by Leart Paqarada, Denis Linsmayer and Andrew Wooten.
Jeff Saibene, on the other hand, had taken four points from his two games in charge. That included a vital 2-1 win over Fortuna Düsseldorf a week prior, though he would have to do without Christopher Nöthe, who had torn his ACL. In his place, Kevin Staude started in attack.
Voglsammer opens the scoring
The game began slowly, but with two key decisions at either end. Sandhausen had a penalty appeal turned down after the ball struck Staude's arm as he turned away from the play. However, almost immediately, a fine move saw Reinhold Yabo go down under challenge from Marco Knaller.
Martin Thomsen pointed to the spot and Voglsammer, who took the short run-up that normally concerns fans, stayed cool to send him the wrong way and slot into the corner.
Christoph Hemlein then almost made it two with a fine sliding effort, though Voglsammer's cross had just too much pace for him to connect. At the other end, Julian Derstroff thought he had headed home an equaliser from close range only to see it chalked off for offside in the build up.
Staude then fell foul to a tough half towards the end of the first period and was subsequently replaced by Leandro Putaro. A smattering of yellow cards and Sandhausen pressure was the theme as things came to a close. Yet one major chance fell to Bielefeld as Yabo beat the defensive line, only for the midfielder to miss Voglsammer.
Clinical Bielefeld ease home
The second half began just as slowly as the first, though it was Bielefeld who sparked into life first and, crucially, quickly. Yabo's ball across the box wasn't picked up on until Voglsammer broke off his man. Sandhausen didn't respond and a smart swivel and shot found the bottom corner of the wrong-footed Knaller's net.
The visitors were comfortable following that, although Sandhausen tried to spring attacks on the break. They found Daniel Davari in resolute form between the sticks, however.
Then, came the third and final Bielefeld strike. A messy set-piece ended up with Sören Brandy heading the ball back towards the near post and Börner rose to nod in from close range. That seemed to be the sucker punch but Lucas Höler and a deflected Jakub Kosecki strike brought the very best out of Davari.
Yet there would be a consolation for the hosts, as Karl stabbed home from Kosecki's cross. Bielefeld are now up to 14th, with Sandhausen still in ninth.