Sebastian Andersson headed in the equaliser as 1.FC Kaiserslautern earned a point at FC St. Pauli to remain unbeaten under new coach Jeff Strasser.
Sami Allaugi gave his side the leader after just over an hour, however they offered little in response once Andersson levelled the game up.
Kaiserslautern remain second bottom in the 2. Bundesliga, but will be encouraged by a solid display.
Allaugi messes up first half’s one big chance
St. Pauli came into this game sixth in the table, and despite still being without Aziz Bouhaddouz and Marc Hornschuh, they could at least recall Christopher Buchtmann after scoring from the bench in the win against Eintracht Braunschweig, along with Johannes Flum. Kaiserslautern, who won Strasser’s first game against SpVgg Greuther Fürth, were unchanged.
The meeting between these two teams here last season ended as a goalless draw, and despite the hosts appearing to control the game this looked on course to end the same way for two thirds of the match. They spent much of the first half looking for an opening, but a poor final ball and good defending from a well-organised Kaiserslautern kept them at bay.
Andersson, who scored all three goals against Fürth, had the only chance of note for the Red Devils in the half, coming forward but curling his shot wide. At the other end, crosses from Luca Zander and Cenk Sahin failed to find any St. Pauli players in the box, although at least Bernd Nehrig connected with a corner, heading it over.
Sami Allaugi had the one clear cut opportunity to break the deadlock six minutes before the break, but failed to take it. Buchtmann found him with a ball over the top however the former Herhta BSC striker, who had been without a 2. Bundesliga goal since joining St. Pauli, struck over both Marius Müller and the bar.
Allaugi and Andersson liven up second half
Any hopes that the game would light up straight into the second half proved unfounded. Several St. Pauli set pieces failed to create anything, whilst Andersson failed to win a penalty for Kaiserslautern despite a tussle in the box with Christopher Avevor.
A solid spell of possession following a throw-in eventually produced the first goal for the hosts. Waldemar Sobota passed through to Sahin, who lost the ball, however in attempt to retrieve it Benjamin Kessel managed to foul Flum. The referee Sascha Stegemann was about to give a penalty, however Allaugi then pounced to fire the all in, negating any forthcoming decision and breaking his own personal duck.
Mats Möller Daehli, introduced straight after the goal, could have made it two. His shot from the left after a good run into the box though was sent wide by a deflection and a save from Müller. Instead the second goal of the match came at the other end. Andersson got ahead of Nehrig, leaving himself unmarked as he headed in a corner from Joel Abu Hanna.
St, Pauli offered little in response, with Olaf Janßen decided to replace Sahin with Maurice Litka late on raising a few eyebrows. Christoph Moritz had a chance to win it for his team taken away from goal, but nevertheless Kaiserslautern will have been much happier with this point their opponents.