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Johannes Eggestein celebrates his goal

Photo: Daniel Karmann / dpa

FC St. Pauli and Holstein Kiel are still at the top of the 2nd Bundesliga.

League leaders St. Pauli won 2-0 (1-0) at 1. FC Nürnberg, pursuers Holstein Kiel also celebrated a 2-0 (1-0) win at SV Elversberg.

In the relegation battle, Hansa Rostock collected important points with a 1-0 (1-0) win over SpVgg Greuther Fürth.

Nuremberg posed problems for St. Pauli with a well-organized defense in the first half; despite 71 percent possession of the ball, Hamburg only had a few chances.

Then the hosts were careless, which St. Pauli immediately punished: Philipp Treu was given too much space for a cross and he found Johannes Eggestein, who headed the ball into the right corner of the goal (44th minute).

After twelve games without a goal, it was the striker's seventh goal of the season.

The Nuremberg team, who had hardly had any offensive actions to date, then invested more in the attack and had a good opportunity through Jens Castrop (49th).

Then they lost the ball in midfield, which Connor Metcalfe intercepted.

The ball came to Marcel Hartel via Eggestein, who only had to push it in to make it 2-0 - the preliminary decision in the 62nd minute.

St. Pauli can extend its lead over third place to eleven points if Hamburger SV loses to Wehen Wiesbaden on Sunday (1:30 p.m., TV: Sky).

In the tight middle of the table, Nuremberg initially remains in eighth place.

Kiel had a hard time against Elversberg for a long time, the hosts were secure and the Kiel team couldn't find a playful solution.

Instead, the SVE had better chances on the counterattack, but Manuel Feil (13th) and Luca Schnellbacher (19th) missed them.

When Kiel was able to switch quickly after winning the ball in midfield, the score fell to 0-1 thanks to Shūto Machino, who took the ball with him after a pass and converted it from 14 meters (39th).

Philipp Sander increased the score to 0-2 shortly after the restart, but his shot was deflected unstoppably twice (49').

Afterwards, Kiel remained in control and no longer put the victory in danger.

Kiel is in second place, five points behind St. Pauli and, even with a possible HSV win, is five points ahead of the relegation place.

Newly promoted Elversberg still remains in midfield in tenth place, but can still be overtaken by Hertha BSC on Sunday.

Rostock struggled to control the game against Fürth and mostly had the ball in their own ranks, but the team did not create any dangerous chances to score in the first 30 minutes.

Then Svante Ingelsson failed with a header past Fürth keeper Jonas Urbig (30th), Kevin Schumacher put the ball next to the goal (35th).

Nico Neidhart did better in the 40th minute, being cleared by Simon Rhein and Ingelsson and making it 1-0.

Fürth remained harmless offensively, and it wasn't until the 70th minute that the team came dangerously in front of the Hansa goal.

Armindo Sieb was first denied by goalkeeper Markus Kolke (70th) and then finished inaccurately (77th).

The guests invested in the attack, but no longer had any compelling chances because Hansa was solid in defense.

Hansa follows the success of its direct competitor Eintracht Braunschweig and is now back in 16th place.

Fürth is currently seventh and has only had one win in the last seven games.

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