Marvin Ducksch and Finn Becker exchanged goals as Werder Bremen and Bundesliga 2 league leaders St. Pauli played out a 1-1 draw at the Weserstadion.

Werder Bremen 1-1 St. Pauli
Goals: 1-0 Ducksch (assist: Füllkrug) 62', 1-1 Becker 67'

St. Pauli made the short journey from Hamburg to Bremen three points clear at the top of Bundesliga 2 following last Sunday's 4-0 thumping of Hansa Rostock, and they started on the front foot with Becker - restored to the side ahead of Jackson Irvine - firing wide early on. Bremen looked just as dangerous on the counter, though, and Niklas Füllkrug was inches away from making it 1-0 at the other end soon after with a fine lofted attempt. Bremen had the ball in the back of the Pauli net midway through the half, but the goal was ruled out with Marco Friedl having helped it over the line with his hand. Pauli captain James Lawrence then headed a chance narrowly over the crossbar on the half-hour before Füllkrug volleyed wide of Nikola Vasilj's goal, and Felix Zwayer whistled for the break with the deadlock intact.

The game exploded into life just past the hour mark, thoughj. Ducksch gave Bremen what was a deserved lead, latching onto Füllkrug's through ball and slotting home his sixth goal in 12 games since joining the club from Hannover at the end of August. The hosts' lead lasted just five minutes, however, with Becker scoring an opportunistic goal after getting the break of the ball in the Bremen box. Pauli came close to snatching the win in the final half hour, nobody with a better chance than Daniel-Kofi Kyereh, whose finish didn't do the fine run which preceded it justice. Simon Makienok had a goal disallowed at the death and it ended 1-1.

Match stats

• Ducksch is already Bremen's top scorer with six goals - three times more than the next best Rapp, with two.
• Becker's goal was his second of the season following his opener in the 3-2 derby win over Hamburg on Matchday 3.
• Bremen won home and away when the two sides last met, in the 2010/11 Bundesliga.
• Die Grün-Weißen are playing in the second tier for the first time since 1981.
• St. Pauli remain the division's 28-goal top scorers, with Guido Burgstaller helping himself to 10.
• Pauli are bidding to return to the Bundesliga for the first time since that 2010/11 campaign.

Line-ups

Bremen: Pavlenka - Mbom, Veljkovic (c), Friedl, Jung - Rapp (Mai 84'), Gruev, Agu (Weiser 77') - Schmid (Schönfelder 84') - Füllkrug (Dinkci 90'+4), Ducksch
Unused subs: Zetterer, Assale, Schmidt, Park, Groß
Out: Toprak (calf), Woltemade (foot)
Coach: Markus Anfang 

Pauli: Vasilj - Zander, Lawrence (c) (Ziereis 77'), Medic, Paqarada - Becker, Aremu (Benatelli 77'), Hartel (Irvine67') - Kyereh - Burgstaller (Matanovic 88'), Dittgen (Makienok 46')
Unused subs: Smarsch, Ohlsson, Buchtmann, Dzwigala
Out: Avevor (ankle), Daschner (knee), Knoll (calf), Ohlsson (hamstring), Smith (groin), Wieckhoff (knee)
Coach: Timo Schultz

Matchday 12 round-up

Hannover 1-1 Erzgebirge Aue
Goals: 1-0 Kerk (4'), 1-1 Nazarov (45'+1)

It was the proverbial game of two halves between Hannover and Aue, with the hosts enjoying much the better of the opening 45 minutes, and taking the lead as early as the fourth minute through Sebastian Kerk. They failed to make the most of their best spell of the game, though, and conceded an equaliser on the stroke of half-time through Dmitri Nazarov. Aue then had the better of the second half, but failed to find a winner with Nicolas Kühn's effort against the post the closest they came to snatching victory.

Dynamo Dresden 0-1 Sandhausen
Goal: 0-1 Testroet (50')

Sandhausen moved out of the relegation zone and narrowed the gap on Dresden with a 1-0 win at the Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion. Former Dresden player Pascal Testroet scored the only goal of the game five minutes into the second half, meeting a corner at the far post after it was flicked on unwittingly by Heinz Mörschel. Christoph Daferner wasted a glorious chance to level late on when he was put clean through on goal, but shot too close to Patrick Drewes.

Hamburg 1-1 Holstein Kiel
Goals: 1-0 Kittel (pen. 12'), 1-1 Pichler (46')

Hamburg and Holstein Kiel had to settle for a point apiece after in a northern derby which ultimately left neither of the local rivals happy. Sonny Kittel gave the hosts the lead from the penalty spot after Faride Alidou was fouled by Julian Korb inside the area, but Benedikt Pichler stunned the majority of the 40,000 fans inside the Volksparkstadion within a minute of the restart when he converted a pass from former Werder Bremen midfielder Fin Bartels. Ludovit Reis provided a gilt-edged opportunity for Mikkel Kaufmann to win it for the hosts on the hour mark, but he missed the target by a matter of inches. Lewis Holtby then wasted the chance to snatch a late winner for Kiel, but the former Hamburg winger sent the ball over with the last kick of the game.

Watch: Hamburg 1-1 Holstein Kiel in 60 seconds

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Heidenheim 1-0 Schalke
Goals: 1-0 Hüsing (89’)

Schalke’s four-game winning run came to a halt on Friday evening as the Royal Blues slipped to a last-gasp defeat away to mid-table Heidenheim. It capped a disappointing week for Dimitrios Grammozis’ side, who also crashed out of the DFB Cup in the second round with defeat to third-division side 1860 Munich on Tuesday. Schalke had goalkeeper Martin Fraisl to thank for keeping them in the game so long with several fine saves, but he was powerless to prevent the host snatching the points late on when Oliver Hüsing headed in from a free-kick.

Darmstadt 2-0 Nuremberg
Goals: 1-0 L. Pfeiffer (11’), 2-0 Schindler (o.g. 59’)

Nuremberg succumbed to their first Bundesliga 2 defeat of the season as Darmstadt pulled to within a point of their visitors with a clinical display to record a fifth successive home victory. Nuremberg had more of the ball but lacked the necessary spark in the final third to break down a well-drilled Darmstadt side who were constantly lurking for opportunities to strike on the counter-attack. Luca Pfeiffer opened the scoring with a well-placed finish in the 11th minute and the victory was sealed around the hour-mark when Christopher Schindler diverted the ball into his own net from a corner.

Karlsruhe 2-4 Paderborn
Goals: 0-1 Justvan (20'), 0-2 Michel (23'), 0-3 Michel (29') 0-4 Michel (32'), 1-4 Schleusener (68'), 2-4 Hofmann (70')

Sven Michel scored three goals in the space of nine first-half minutes as Paderborn ended a run of two games without a win. The veteran forward followed up Julian Justvan's opener in a blistering spell that all but ended the game as a contest. Karlsruhe showed a spirted, albeit belated response as Fabian Schleusener and Philipp Hofmann reduced the arrears with quick-fire second-half goals, but the damage had long been done. Paderborn climb to within a one point of third-placed Schalke, while Karlsruhe - perhaps suffering a hangover from their DFB Cup second-round win over Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen - slip to ninth.

Watch: Sven Michel's nine-minute hat-trick in all its glory

Ingolstadt 0-3 Regensburg
Goals: 0-1 Otto (9'), 0-2 Besuschkow (pen. 63'), 0-3 Caliskaner (72')

Regensburg made the most of dropped points for Pauli with a table-topping victory away to rock-bottom Ingolstadt. Fatih Kaya's early miss proved costly as David Otto applied the finishing touch to Benedikt Saller's cross to give the visitors the lead. Michael Heinloth perhaps should have levelled soon after, but Ingolstadt struggled from thereon in. Regensburg, by contrast, controlled the play and made the most of the few chances they created. In the second half, a Max Besuschkow penalty and Kaan Caliskaner header sealed the Bavarian derby bragging rights and returned Regensburg to the top of the table for the first time since the start of Matchday 9.

Hansa Rostock 2-1 Fortuna Düsseldorf
Goals: 1-0 Behrens (20'), 1-1 Nharey (57'), 2-1 Bahn (pen. 73')

Hansa Rostock capped a fine week with a narrow win over Fortuna Düsseldorf. After knocking out Regensburg on penalties in the DFB Cup second round, Hanno Behrens smashed in from 18 yards following a period of sustained Hansa pressure. John Verhoek was denied by Florian Kastenmeier and Nik Omladic headed over, before Düsseldorf began to show signs of life. Khaled Narey levelled with the visitors' first shot on goal, but Fortuna's luck was shortlived. After Verhoek had a goal ruled out for offside upon VAR review, Bentley Bahn put away the winning goal from the penalty spot following a handball against Marcel Sobottka. The result takes Rostock up to 12th, a point behind Düsseldorf.

About the clubs

SV Werder Bremen

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FC St. Pauli

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