A late goal from Christopher Buchtmann moved FC St. Pauli back out of the bottom three and level on points with opponents Würzburger Kickers.
Despite numerous chances in both halves they looked set to be frustrated, but Buchtmann finally breached the goal of Jörg Siebenhandl with just three minutes remaining.
Both sides are now locked with 1. FC Kaiserslautern and Erzgebirge Aue on 32 points, as the battle to survive relegation form the 2. Bundesliga remains unbearably tight.
Key trio back for struggling Würzburg
Despite still being in the bottom two, only the top four have performed better in the second half of the season than St. Pauli, who returned to form with a win against 1. FC Nürnberg last weekend.
Würzburg on the other hand were still winless since their victory over VfB Stuttgart just before Christmas, and came into the game just three points ahead of their hosts.
St. Pauli made two changes from last weekend’s win, with Philipp Zieries and Johannes Flum replacing Marc Hornschuh and Bernd Nehrig, who was suspended after receiving a tenth yellow card of the season.
Bernd Hollerbach made three changes from the goalless draw with Hannover 96 in their last game, with Sebastian Neumann, Tobias Schröck and Rico Benatelli all able to return. Dániel Nagy, Peter Kurzburg and Patrick Weihrauch made way.
Sahin and Sobiech denied by Siebenhandl
This would be a game that would not really get going until half-an-hour in. It was an open game, with St. Pauli as the hosts perhaps seeing more of the ball, but neither team created much in front of goal.
The torch paper was eventually lit by David Pisot, even if his shot from outside the box was easily taken by Philipp Heerwagen. St. Pauli broke quickly from there, with Mats Möller Daehli setting Cenk Sahin through on goal, however Jörg Siebenhandl did well to block his shot.
That was the best chance, but moments after, Marco Königs had a great opportunity himself for Würzburg, but he could only hit the side netting after Lasse Sobiech got back to cut off his angle to goal.
St. Pauli ended the half on top, with two more chances to open the scoring. Siebenhandl had to make an impressive save to deny Sobiech’s powerful header from a Christopher Buchtmann free-kick. Buchtmann had a shot himself in stoppage time, but it was a more straightforward stop for the Würzburg goalkeeper.
Buchtmann the hero
The hosts started the second half with intent. Waldemar Sobota’s cross in the first minute couldn’t find Bouhaddouz, but Sören Gonther was forward from the back to head it wide. Butchtmann was able to find Bouhaddouz soon after, but a poor first touch put it in the hands of Siebenhandl.
They couldn’t keep it up though. A good passage of play just after the hour saw a Jeremy Dudziak cross blocked by Neumann, a Sahin cross also dealt with, before Daehli headed Sobota’s ball in into the side netting. Würzburg had chances from Benatelli and Nejmeddin Daghfous saved by Heerwagen.
The hosts cranked up the pressure again in the final ten minutes. Substitute Lennart Thy came close to finally scoring his first goal since returning on loan from Werder Bremen, but Siebenhandl was determined to keep another clean sheet and sent it wide.
The goal finally came a minute later though. Getting the ball from Sobiech, Bouhaddouz found Buchtmann out wide, and despite having Júnior Díaz to contend with, he was able to place is shot past both the Costa Rican and Siebenhandl to seal another massive three points for his side.
With Aue and Kaiserslautern both losing and Arminia Bielefeld not in action until Monday night, St. Pauli were able to move above all of them in the table, albeit only ahead of the former two on goal difference. Having been in relegation form for some time, the table though is finally starting to reflect the seriousness of Würzburg’s situation.