St Pauli end long rot with Heidenheim win; SV Hamburg crash

Martijn Kaars scored a brace as 10-man St Pauli ended a miserable run of 11 Bundesliga games without victory over three months with a 2-1 win over fellow strugglers Heidenheim on Saturday.

Kaars smashed the opener into the top right corner in the 35th minute, and struck again on the counter in the 53rd after being released by Joel Fujita, who had also set up the first.

Marvin Pieringer tapped Heidenheim back into the game in the 64th and St Pauli goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj made a huge late save against Mathias Honsak.

The hosts held on although they had Eric Smith harshly sent off for a last-man foul against Pieringer shortly before half-time.

It was St Pauli's first victory since a 2-1 over Augsburg on September 14. They went on to lose a club record 10 matches in a row before earning a point again last weekend by drawing in Cologne.

St Pauli climbed past Heidenheim, who had won their previous two matches, on goal difference into third last place.

"The match was so important for us. To win and score two goals is unbelievable," Kaars told Sky TV.

The Dutchman scored his first Bundesliga goals since a summer move from second division Magdeburg, and said: "We are not Bayern Munich, you don't get as many chances as Harry Kane. I stayed patient."

Hoffenhein cruise

Elsewhere, the other Hamburg club, SV Hamburg, crashed 4-1 at Hoffenheim who are fourth as their strong season continues.

Grischa Prömel, Ozan Kabak, Tim Lemperle and Fisnik Asslani scored for the hosts while Rayan Philippe got a consolation before firing a late penalty over.

Wolfsburg and Frankfurt win

Visiting Wolfsburg ended Borussia Mönchengladbach's run of five games without defeat with a 3-1 success, helped by a Patrick Wimmer brace and two Christian Eriksen assists for seven points from three games under caretaker coach Daniel Bauer.

A week after crashing 6-0 at RB Leipzig, and after a narrower 2-1 Champions League defeat at Barcelona, Eintracht Frankfurt steadied the ship with a 1-0 over Augsburg from Ritsu Doan's deflected shot.

The visitors had two goals nullified upon review, an early effort from Chrislain Matsima and an 87th-minute tap-in from Noahkai Banks.

The other fixtures

The late game is a western German derby between Bayer Leverkusen and Cologne.

On Sunday, Bayern Munich can extend their eight-point lead when they host bottom club Mainz, and Borussia Dortmund can move into second with victory in Freiburg. The day's other match is Werder Bremen v VfB Stuttgart.

Second-placed RB Leipzig lost 3-1 at Union Berlin on Friday.