FC St. Pauli

Head coach Timo Schultz made two adjustments from the 2-0 home defeat against Paderborn, Philipp Ziereis slotting into central defence in place of Tore Reginiussen and Finn Ole Becker beginning for Afeez Aremu in midfield. Osnabrück coach Markus Feldhoff also made two changes to the team that drew 1-1 at Nürnberg, Maurice Trapp and Niklas Schmidt replacing Ken Reichel and Christian Santos.

The game began at a lively tempo and it was the Boys in Brown who made the better start, applying the pressure early to carve out the first chance after just 123 seconds. A move involving several players eventually ended with an acrobatic overhead kick from Rodrigo Zalazar coming down on the top of the net. The majority of the play unfolded in the Osnabrück half in the ensuing period but without any chances for the Boys in Brown apart from two shots from Finn Ole Becker and Guido Burgstaller that were blocked.

Only rarely were the home side able to escape the brown-and-white stranglehold. And when they did, the danger came down the left-hand side. Zalazar misplaced a clearance to Wolze, who pulled the trigger from just outside the box, but his angled drive flew well past the angle. Zalazar then got a decisive deflection on a Niklas Schmidt free-kick before the Boys in Brown hit back with a brilliant ball into the box from the left by Leart Paqarada to the unmarked Burgstaller, who chested it down and hit a first-time shot on the turn, only to see it clear the crossbar.

As the half wore on, the home side began to fight their way back into the proceedings, but despite having slightly more success keeping the Boys in Brown at bay, they remained vulnerable at the back, as when Becker stamped out a quick counterattack by winning possession 25 metres in front of the Osnabrück goal. He fed Daniel-Kofi Kyereh, who in turn slipped the ball to Burgstaller. The striker worked the space for a shot by wrongfooting Maurice Trapp, but goalkeeper Philipp Kühn got down quickly to gather his shot from the edge of the box. The hosts ended the half the strongest, however, and after Schmidt and Sebastian Kerk had seen shots blocked, Timo Beermann squandered a great chance to open the scoring when he headed a Kerk corner just past the left-hand upright completely unmarked.

The Boys in Brown dictated the play in the first half. Here, Finn Ole Becker is challenged by Kevin Wolze.

Neither side made any changes for the second half and there was no change in the tempo either. The tackles continued to fly in, as in the 50^th minute when Trapp slid in and brought Omar Marmoush down in the box, his backside making contact with the Egyptian's foot. Dr Martin Thomsen pointed straight to the spot and after consulting the video assistant referee had no reason to alter his decision. Burgstaller stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way to give his side the lead.

Burgstaller almost made it two six minutes later. The striker did well to lose his marker but was unable to get the better of Kühn from the inside-right channel. A few minutes later, the home side hit back on the break and Kerk tested Dejan Stojanović from a narrow angle. The Boys in Brown continued to hog the possession, however, and fashioned a huge chance to double their lead in the 63^rd minute when James Lawrence flicked on a corner to the back post, where Kyereh could only find the side netting with his header.

The ball did find the net just 120 seconds later, however. Kyereh got the ball forward quickly to Marmoush on the left, and the winger cut inside past two defenders before smashing a low drive from just outside the box into the far corner to make it 2-0. The Egyptian was not satisfied with that and in what was almost a carbon copy of the previous move found the same corner of the net, but it went to VAR and the goal was chalked off for the narrowest of offsides.

With the Schultz XI keeping things tight at the back, Osnabrück hardly had a look in, but in the 79^th minute they finally managed to find a gap in the brown-and-white rearguard, which now featured Adam Dźwigała in place of the injured Sebastian Ohlsson. Marc Heider attacked at pace down the left and after playing a one-two with Christian Santos he dinked the ball over Stojanović to halve the deficit.

Timo Schultz made several substitutions in the closing stages, introducing Jannes Wieckhoff, Afeez Aremu and Maximilian Dittgen for Finn Ole Becker, Rodrigo Zalazar and Omar Marmoush and then Igor Matanović for Guido Burgstaller. The home side threw everything at it, but their efforts were not enough to prevent the Boys in Brown from claiming a deserved win, their first at Osnabrück since August 1991.

VfL Osnabrück

Kühn - Gugganig (Multhaup 69'), Beermann, Trapp - Ajdini, Bapoh (Henning 62'), Taffertshofer, Reis (Müller 87'), Wolze (Heider 62') - Schmidt (Santos 62'), Kerk

Head coach: Markus Feldhoff

FC St. Pauli

Stojanović - Ohlsson (Dźwigała 78'), Ziereis, Lawrence, Paqarada - Zalazar (Aremu 84'), Benatelli, Becker (Wieckhoff 84'), Kyereh - Marmoush (Dittgen 84'), Burgstaller (Matanović 88')

Head coach: Timo Schultz

Goals: 0-1 Burgstaller (pen. 51'), 0-2 Marmoush (65'), 1-2 Heider (79')

Yellow cards: Ziereis

Referee: Dr Martin Thomsen (Kleve)

Photos: Witters