Second-half onslaught sees Augsburg past St. Pauli
Both sides canceled eachother out early on before summer signing Frank Onyeka unleashed the the first warning shot for Augsburg. The Ivorian midfielder's strike whistled over the bar in the end. By and large, the opening quarter was controlled by the Fuggerstädters with Schlotterbeck and Wolf also coming close.
St.Pauli livened up and had a brief penalty appeal when the ball struck Onyeka on the hand. Arbiter Felix Zweyer saw nothing in it. Essende perhaps missed the chance of the first-half when Ruben Vargas' cross fell to the back post. Vasilj came out to smother the Congolese striker's effort before the half-time whistle sounded.
It took two second-half minutes for Augsburg to construct the lead. Mets' clearance fell to Essende who fed the ball to the right hand side of the box. Marius Wolf arrived on cue to bag his first goal for Augsburg since his move from Dortmund - his beautifully curved strike nestled in the lower right corner.
Augsburg doubled their advantage shortly after the hour mark. Onyeka's delivery from the right was not defended well by Saliakas. Phillip Tietz nipped in to tap home from a semi-acute angle. An almost instant reply from St.Pauli with fifteen minutes left to play gave the newly promoted outfit a lifeline. Elias Saad found the head of Carlo Boukhalfa to glance past Lavrović. Ultimately, an injury time goal from Yusuf Kabadayi who slipped it through Vasilj's legs sealed victory.
