Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen struck twice in the first half to beat St Pauli 2-1 on Saturday and make it three league wins in a row for the first time this season.
Buoyed by its midweek German Cup round of 16 victory over league leaders Bayern Munich, Leverkusen only needed six minutes to take control of the game with Florian Wirtz firing in from a superb Granit Xhaka pass.
Leverkusen, who will host Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday, was without its two top strikers, Victor Boniface and Patrik Schick, both of whom are nursing injuries.
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But still doubled the lead in the 21st after defender Jonathan Tah was left unmarked at the far post to head in.
St Pauli needed 30 minutes to get its first effort toward goal and it struggled throughout against the hosts’ solid backline.
But set up a nervous finale when it pulled a goal back in the 84th through Morgan Guilavogui.
Levekusen hung on for the win and is now on 26 points in third place, seven behind Bayern, who beat Heidenheim 4-2.
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